The Curse
by SandyLee Potts
Summary: This is my AU story. Starts off in series 3 and will turn AU very quickly after that. Be prepared for the impossible to happen! We meet Connor's family and they have devastating news for our Conn. How will he cope? Strange and weird things are happening to Abby too! Christine Johnson has horrid plans for Captain Becker. Jess makes an appearance as a ...
1. Chapter 1

**_The Curse_**

**_Author_****_: Sandylee Potts_**

**_Rating_****_: T_**

_Characters__: Connor, Abby, Becker, Danny, and OC's_

_Disclaimer__: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, if I was in charge; Series 6 would have already been shot and would be ready for airing! _

_Spoilers: Season 3 onwards_

_ A/N__: This story is different from my 'Saving' series of stories. I liked the idea of Connor being a twin, so have brought his brother back, to avoid confusion in this story I have called him Ashley. The Other Characters, whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

_Thanks go to Basched for the Beta reading I have made changes since she read this so any other errors are all mine._

_ This story will be turning AU very quickly into the story, So be prepared for the impossible to happen! You Have Been WARNED! (Or enticed if you like.)_

**_CAST:_**

**_Lord Cuttershall … Douglas Henshal_**

**_Lady Cuttershall … Lucy Brown_**

**_Peter Cuttershall … Eddie McClintock_**

**_Connor Temple … Andrew Lee Potts_**

**_Ashley Armstrong… Andrew Lee Potts_**

**_Madam Christina … Belinda Stuart-Wilson_**

**_Tom Ryan … Mark Wakeling_**

**_Sorcerer … Colin Morgan_**

**_Morgana… Katie McGrath_**

**_Stephenson… James Murray _**

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

_It started over eight-hundred years ago, in the year 1245. On a cold and dark night ..._

_The wind whistled through the forest, the trees shook and leaves were blown around, the clouds covered the moon and stars and the wind buffeted the walls of the mansion. Rain lashed at the windows on this the darkest of nights._

_A young man rode his horse towards the mansion, his cloak flew in the wind behind him, and he kicked his horse to make him go faster; he chased the woman on her own horse in front. Breathless they reached the stables and quickly they pulled the horses inside. Tethering the horses hastily, the young man set upon the woman making her shriek with giddiness. She laughed as he pulled her around to kiss him. He pushed her onto clean hay, unbuttoning his cloak._

_Falling next to her he pulled her closer, he listened to her as she gasped for breath, continuing he kissed along her jaw and down her neck. He was pulling at her white, tunic wanting to lift it up and over her head, when he stopped, he could hear the sound of someone approaching. The girl giggled underneath him as he put a finger to his lips indicating that they should be quiet._

_He heard the man huff. Raising his head to see above the mounds of hay, he was not surprised to see his father's blonde haired footman._

_"Master Peter, your father, has requested your presence inside the manor by the mistress's bedside." he spoke gruffly._

_The young man huffed. "Thank you, Ryan." he turned to his female partner._

_"Sorry, maybe another time."_

_With that, he stood up and shook himself off._

_._

_-o-o-o-_

_._

_Inside the huge mansion, servants scurried around, completing the tasks which they had been set, cooking, cleaning and keeping the house warm and welcoming. The candles had been lit and the walls were sparsely decorated with portraits of the family members, there was only one fire which was kept burning, the one which belonged to the mistress of the house. _

_The Lord of the Manor sat forlornly by his wife's bedside. There was a knock on the door and Lord Cuttershall's eldest son entered the room, his hair still wet from the ride and walk from the stables. His footsteps clattered on the wooden floor as he joined his brothers, Lee, Colin and his father by the luscious four-poster bed, he left the door ajar, and a manservant entered._

_As the manservant entered, the lord of the house paused and turned to face him, his light brown, almost blonde hair lay flat on his head, his blue eyes, hiding the anguish he felt in his heart. His dear wife was dying, and there wasn't anything he could do to help. He held her hand and hoped that she would survive the night, her fever had increased, and her skin had grown paler. _

_"Yes Stephenson, What is it?" _

_"Sire, the footman returns with news of a healer, a woman travelling through the land healing the sick with a new tonic, a magical healing potion."_

_He felt the tug of his wife's hand in his, he turned to face her, and she shook her head, too weak to speak. Her skin was pale, almost as white as the pillow, upon which she laid, her dark hair fanned out behind her. He saw what she was trying to say, but his heart was not prepared to give up._

_"Father should we really seek out this woman? We have no money with which to pay the healer, surely this is a waste if the potion does not work." Questioned Peter; the eldest of the Lord's children._

_"Silence, I will not have you talk about your mother as if she was not here, and whilst I am alive, I will not let any harm come to her." His Scottish accent more pronounced than ever. He turned back to his poorly and unwell wife._

_Peter's brother's – the dark haired, twins smiled at each other, at fourteen they still felt that they were too young to be without their mother._

_Resigned Lord Nicholas Cuttershall thought of the magicians, healers, soothsayers, fortune-tellers, exorcists, witches, and wizards, all of which roamed the British Isles, looking for fame and fortune. He thought it prudent to send a messenger to fetch the healer, to see if she could help his ailing wife, he was not prepared to stand by and watch her die._

_The Cuttershall family had been one of the richest families in the kingdom, Lord Cuttershall being one of the most influential people around for miles, but, a year of drought, hardly any rain, had caused the crops to fail. The landowners were hungry, bread and basic foods were hard to come by, livestock were dying, poorly fed on the most meagre of hay bales. _

_._

_-o-o-o-_

_._

_Lady Cuttershall was a kind and gentle, person, and she always helped those around her. She had been kind to the footman and his wife, and when his wife was with child, she had done the utmost to help, even delivering the babe herself. The footman, a man called Thomas Ryan, began his travels at first light, eager to please his Lord and hopefully save the life of his Lady, whom he adored and respected. He found the old woman and took her back to the Mansion. The old woman was bent over, her gnarled hands held a stick to aide her, and she walked with a limp. _

_She had given the Lady Claudia a potion to drink, making her feel better instantly, but when she had asked for payment, the old woman was beaten by Lady Claudia's eldest son, Peter. Imprisoning the healer, he had told the traveller that they had no money with which to pay her._

_The old woman was no ordinary healer; she was a witch; Madam Christina, and she had great powers. She had broken out of her prison, and reaching the Lady's bedroom, had cursed her and all her descendants to a lifetime of misery. They would be forced to live as wolves, until they could break the curse._

_The witch had then disappeared into thin air, leaving the Lord and his three sons begging for mercy._

_Weeks later, Lord Cuttershall had requested the presence of a wizard called Merlin. Informing him of their inability to pay him, Lord Cuttershall had proceeded to tell him of their dire circumstances. His eldest son had already succumbed and had become a wolf, and his younger sons, the twins, were suffering with the same ailments._

_The sorcerer, asked the Lord of the manor to provide an herb which grew in the thickest of forests. Sir Nicholas sent his stable hand, a man by the name of Roger Temple, to retrieve the root and bring it to them._

_The root was ground into a powder and it was presented to the Lord's offspring in the form of a drink. The eldest child Peter, returned to normal, as did his brothers. The sorcerer then requested that he be given Lady Cuttershall's necklace. She was reluctant, but after reassurance that he would not take it with him, she conceded, and gave him the heirloom._

_"By the power vested in me from the gods above, I change this necklace into a thousand rings." He raised his hand over the necklace and spoke with a deep voice that echoed across the hall and through the corridors, his eyes began to glow, a deep red, orange and then returned to a clear blue, there was a flash, and the necklace became a hoard of rings._

_He turned to the Lady Claudia Cuttershall._

_"I cannot undo the magic of Madam Christina, but I can do this. Keep these rings safe. You must give one ring to each of your descendants. They will be forced to live as humans by day, but would succumb by not just the light of the moon, but strong emotions, and will become werewolves once more." He took one ring and putting it through a thin strip of leather, hung it around Peter's neck; he proceeded to put rings around the twin's necks too._

_"The ring will protect each of your sons, and these extra rings must be passed on to the next generation. The curse itself can only be broken by bathing in a golden cauldron, full of water from the River of Life. You will only be able to find both the cauldron and the river by passing through a naturally occurring glowing portal, a glittering globe, consisting of all the colours of the rainbow." _

_._

_-o-o-o-_

_._

* * *

_So like I said... This story is AU, very much AU and will remain that way._

_To those of you who enjoyed it, please let me know by pressing that button down there._

_To those of you who didn't, I would still like a review as to why you didn't enjoy it, (Not that it's going to make a blind bit of difference, because I will still carry on!)_


	2. Chapter 2

**_The Curse_**

_Author: Sandylee Potts_

_Rating: T_

_Characters: Connor, Abby, Becker, Danny, and OC's_

_Disclaimer: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, if I was in charge; Series 6 would have already been shot and would be ready for airing! _

_Spoilers: Season 3 onwards_

_ A/N: This story is different from my 'Saving' series of stories. I liked the idea of Connor being a twin, so have brought his brother back, to avoid confusion in this story I have called him Ashley. The Other Characters, whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

_Thanks go to Basched for the Beta reading I have made changes since she read this so any other errors are all mine. This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!_

**_CAST:_**

**_Lord Cuttershall … Douglas Henshal_**

**_Lady Cuttershall … Lucy Brown_**

**_Peter Cuttershall … Eddie McClintock_**

**_Connor Temple … Andrew Lee Potts_**

**_Ashley Armstrong… Andrew Lee Potts_**

**_Madam Christina … Belinda Stuart-Wilson_**

**_Tom Ryan … Mark Wakeling_**

**_Sorcerer … Colin Morgan_**

**_Morgana… Katie McGrath_**

**_Stephenson… James Murray _**

**_Mohini … Aishwariya Rai_**

* * *

**_Chapter 2_**

**_Present Day..._**

Connor huffed as he sat back in his cold and uncomfortable jail cell. He could not believe that he'd managed to get himself arrested. Lester, Cutter, and Jenny were all going to kill him. He couldn't even keep watch on an empty house. He could see the ginger haired copper called Danny outside his cell. Walking back to the door, he began to shout.

"This is a blatant miscarriage of justice!" He turned away, and kicked himself, if only he knew what to say. He turned back to the hole in the door and shouted as he saw Danny standing opposite. "I know my rights!"

"Name them." Danny replied without batting an eyelid. If he had a penny for every time someone had said that after being arrested, he would be a _very_ rich man.

"What?"

"I said name them!" He replied dryly.

Connor wracked his brains. It would help if Tom was here; Tom had been good at remembering that sort of stuff. He tried to think hard. In the distance he heard a phone ringing, that's it!

"A phone call! I have the right to a phone call!" He bounced excitedly; he'd remembered something.

"Good lad..." Danny replied sardonically.

"And I have the right to remain silent..." Connor smiled.

"Well you've lost that one then," Danny swung the keys to the cell door as he strolled across to open it.

In the distance, a casually dressed man stuck his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans, and he watched in the distance. He melted into the shadows when Connor glanced his way; he didn't want to be seen, not just yet.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Danny led Connor to a desk where he could make his call. He stood at a distance watching him, he could phone whomever he liked, and it wasn't going to make a difference because he was going to hold him for at least twenty-four hours!

He watched the young man as he finished his phone call. Danny couldn't help thinking that Connor looked very similar to a colleague of his - a policeman at this particular police station.

He wanted to find out what the young man and his friends had been doing at the Old House, it was rumoured to be haunted, and they looked too old to be playing silly games. He wondered where the women had gone; they were clearly up to something. He walked Connor back to his cell and locked him up.

It was then that one of his colleagues stopped him, the very person he had been thinking of, the uncanny and almost mirror image of his prisoner.

Danny had known Ashley for a long time; they had been partners on many different cases, ever since he had joined this particular nick seven years ago, and they would be seen together on their evening off; and he had even known he had a brother. But he was sure that his colleague had said that his brother lived in Blackburn? He wondered, was this Ash's brother? Was it possible that they were twins?

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Unbeknown to him, Ashley Armstrong; was in fact, Connor's twin brother, his identical twin brother! When their parents had divorced, they had separated the twins. They had been very young, only a year old. Ash had stayed with his father and Connor had stayed with his mother, changing his surname when she remarried. Ash felt nothing but resentment towards the woman who had given birth to him. That's all she was, a name, a face, someone who didn't even care enough to send him a birthday card.

He watched the goings on from a distance. He didn't want to approach his brother, not just yet. He wasn't sure what their mother had told him, whether he even knew that, he had a brother. Ash's father on the other hand, had told him everything. How he'd been heartbroken when their mother had approached him for the divorce. How he'd felt even worse when she had been the one to remarry shortly afterwards. His father had also told him about other reasons why their mother had divorced him. Reasons that Ash had only begun to understand recently, reasons why he had to find and speak to Connor.

He watched as a woman in a smart black coat and trousers came to collect Connor. He smirked as she threw Danny a mobile phone, he could not hear what was said, but Detective Constable Quinn was not a happy man, and he was forced to let his brother go after only a few hours.

He hid in the shadows once more, as Connor walked past. Who was he? What did he do? Did he still live with his mother? Or did he live locally? Did he have a girlfriend?

Ash eyed him suspiciously, sighing he sauntered over to the bank of computers in the police station. He wanted to know more about the man DC Danny Quinn had arrested, the man called Connor Temple.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

The records the police had access to, were huge. He could find out anything about Connor including his email address, and with a little authorised hacking, he could even gain access to his medical records.

DC Ashley Armstrong leaned back in his chair and sighed. Connor certainly had been a good boy whilst growing up. He followed the paper trail that led to Connor going to university. He also knew that after completing his coursework, he had joined his mentor, a professor by the name of Nick Cutter, when he had left the university to work at an organisation called the ARC.

Ash frowned wanting to more about the so-called ARC, but he could not even find out what the acronym stood for. The paper trail for Connor Temple came to a full stop.

Sighing he tried a different avenue. Typing in Connor's name and birth date, he tried to find out where the young man was living and who lived at the address with him.

He smiled when he came across Miss Abigail S Maitland. So, Connor did have a girlfriend! Raising an eyebrow, he looked into Abby's sordid past and was surprised with what he found.

Abigail had been adopted at a very young age; she had only been 18 months old when she had been taken into care by Social Services. Her mother had been admitted into a mental hospital, unable to take care of herself or her child. She had grown attached to a young boy called Jack, and the two had been inseparable. Then as Abby had grown older, she had been involved in some rather unusual goings on. Fires that started of their own accord, electrical items that turned on as if by magic, and blood appeared on her hands for no reason. Her adoptive family could not cope with her and she was sent back into care. She and Jack were sent from foster home to foster home, not spending any length of time at a particular place until she was eight years old.

Her longest stint with a foster parent had been a Mrs T Ryan, and she had managed to look after her until she was thirteen. Mrs Ryan had then fallen very ill and had died shortly after Abby's thirteenth birthday. Abby had been taken to another foster home where she had been abused, the mysterious occurrences had started up again and she was sent to another care home until she was old enough to leave. She eventually landed herself a job at Wellington Zoo. She too currently worked at the ARC, and Ash was struggling to find out what it was that the organisation did. All he found out was that it was a secretive part of the Government.

Ash glanced up from the screen as Danny entered the room. Not wanting Danny to see what he was looking at, he logged out of the screen erasing everything. Danny would be none the wiser.

"They are up to something, I know it," grunted Danny.

Ashley raised his eyebrows.

"They were at the Old House," Danny paused. "They know something, and I think they know what happened to my brother."

"What makes you say that? I know they never found a body, but what makes you think they're involved?" Ash questioned.

"Something's not right. Did you know she phoned the Home Secretary to get him off the hook?"

"The Home Secretary...?"

"Yeah...! He chewed my ear off didn't he?" Ash smirked at Danny's red face.

"Hey Ash, that little toerag Connor Temple; looks just you. He's not your brother, is he?"

Ash shook his head negatively; he didn't want Connor finding out from anybody else, and he was not ready to divulge the truth to anybody else. He would approach him when the time was right.

"You don't fancy...?"

"Going undercover and switching places with him? No thanks!" Ash shook his head vehemently smiling at Danny's intended pun.

"Thought not..." Danny sighed grinning. "I'm going after them; I know that they're going back to the house." Danny muttered as he stood up.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

The following day Ashley was inside a well-known coffee shop buying his lunch, when a smartly dressed gentleman approached him.

"Our Boss wants a word with you!" said the man.

"Who are you?" Ash queried.

"My name's Captain Wilder; and my Boss would really like to meet you." The man grunted it was not a request.

"Why?" Ash regarded the man coldly. He was too smart to be a local thug, but then just because he was dressed in a suit; it didn't mean he was working as a thug for someone high up! He tongued the inside of his cheek whilst he decided whether to follow the man or not. The man had not answered his question and Ash was intrigued.

He finished paying for his purchases and curiosity made him follow the man to a sleek black Mercedes with tinted windows. The man opened the door for him and gestured for him to get inside. Begrudgingly Ash did as he was told, to find the man's Boss was a rather smartly dressed middle-aged woman. She smiled at him; bright red lipstick stained her lips, dark hair was twisted into a knot at the back of her head.

"Hello ... Christine Johnson," she spoke clearly with a clipped, posh voice. She smiled as she extended a neatly manicured hand for Ash to shake.

"Hello..." Ash gazed out of the window trying to follow where they were going.

"Don't worry you'll be brought back to your car." She smiled again handing him a manila envelope. "I need you to do a job for me; you'll be paid well."

Ash listened intently as she told him of her plan.

"Why have you chosen me?" Ash enquired thoroughly bemused as to why he in particular had been chosen. This woman would have hundreds, if not thousands of men at her disposal and yet she had come to him. There had to be a reason why.

"You'll see," She handed him another file, which he began to look through.

Ash lost track of where they were and of all time as they continued driving, he was too busy reading through the information presented to him.

He read more of the file and realised that Christine had wanted him in particular because he was Connor's brother. He frowned. How had Christine made the connection? He read more of the file, especially where Connor worked.

_Anomaly Research Centre_.

So that's what the acronym stood for!

"Will you accept my offer?" Christine smiled.

He paused for a moment unsure of what he wanted to do.

"Maybe this will convince you." Christine smiled once more. "Captain Wilder." She extended her hand to the front of the car where Captain Wilder sat. In turned the man gave her another file, which she passed over to Ash.

He gazed at her for a moment. He sniffed, the scent of expensive, sickly, sweet perfume assailed his nostrils, and he opened the file. The first picture was quite innocent; one of him leaving his flat, the next was a picture of him with his father, again quite innocent.

The following picture, however, made his blood run cold. He inhaled sharply, gritted his teeth, and looked at Christine, anger beginning to bubble through his veins. He continued to view more pictures, each more damning than the rest.

He couldn't believe that Christine knew. She knew his secret!

"If you don't comply, this file will be leaked to the media. I'm sure you don't want that to happen do you?" She smiled widely.

"I'll try again, will you accept my offer?" She continued smiling menacingly.

Ash's heart sank and he nodded slowly. He really didn't want to do as she wanted, but under the circumstances, he didn't have a choice. He enjoyed working in the police force, but he really couldn't let this particular information be made public.

Once he was back in front of his desk at the police station, he typed up his resignation, only to find that Danny was quitting too. Had he been head hunted by Christine too?

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

_OK - So not vastly AU, but I'm getting there, just warming up, setting the scene..._

_Let me know your thoughts - Press that button..._


	3. Chapter 3

**_The Curse_**

_Disclaimer__: Primeval belongs to Impossible Pictures, I'm just playing with the characters, bending them, twisting them, changing them slightly, and hope that you like what I've done._

_Spoilers: Season 3 onwards_

_ A/N__: Morgana, belongs to BBC and the creators of Merlin. Ashley, and Pete have been created by, and belong to me._

_Thanks go to Basched for the Beta reading, also thanks to YouHaveLovelyHair for looking over it. I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine._

_ This story will be turning AU very quickly into the story, So be prepared for the impossible to happen! You Have Been WARNED! _

* * *

**_Chapter 3 _**

It was his last week at work, on one late afternoon, and Ashley had just finished typing up a report at his desk, shuffling the file into order he began to take it to his commander's office, when he felt a rush of raw and very sudden emotions. They came from nowhere and were so intense that he grabbed onto the desk in front of him. He gulped and blinked trying very desperately to stay on his feet. His eyes began to sting and he could barely breathe, Ash ignored the strange looks from the others in the office, and staggered to the gents.

Locking the door behind him; he stood in the cubicle and wept, for no apparent reason, tears flowed from his eyes, and he could not stop.

During the irrepressible sobs, Ash recalled how his father had joked with him, that Connor was the reason behind his huge mood swings; after all medical evidence showed that twins could feel their sibling's feelings. At the time, he had thought his father had been joking, but now he wasn't so sure.

A few days after he had wept in the cubicle, Ash was leafing through a newspaper, when he saw an obituary on Nick Cutter. The name sounded familiar to him and he began to investigate. Nick Cutter had been a hero, almost a father figure in Connor's eyes, and the obituary was written by him. Ash's still high emotions made sense now, he began to believe his father, and his raw emotions of sorrow were coming from his brother.

He knew that Connor was grieving for the professor, and Ash wished he could do something about it. He often wondered if Connor could feel his emotions and Ash promised himself that one day he would take the time to find out.

The ache in Ash's chest didn't fade or diminish; it throbbed so much, and insisted that he go to Nick's funeral. He stood in the shadows as he had done on many occasions and watched. He waited for his brother to put his arm around Abby confirming that they were a couple but was surprised when he didn't. Maybe he was wrong and they weren't a couple? Abby appeared upset alongside Connor, but it was clear that Connor was the one who would miss the professor the most. The ache in Ash's chest returned and he found himself grieving for a man he didn't even know.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Lester sat at his desk and sighed; where was he going to find someone to be in charge of the team? He was going to put Jenny in charge for the moment; he knew that she would do her best but she lacked Cutter's conviction. Cutter had the knowledge, the curiosity for more information, the ability to lead his team, and he had done it until his dying day. But now that he was gone, he needed someone else to come in and take over. Where was he going to find that certain someone?

Reaching across his desk he picked up the handset to his phone and called Captain Becker, he needed to speak with the young captain in regards to a new recruit who was starting soon. He huffed; they were going through soldiers very fast. Each anomaly, each creature incursion meant that men were lost, needing to be replaced and quickly.

As the captain entered his room, James picked up a file and passed it to him.

"New recruit; he starts today. I've looked over his file, he seems competent enough."

"Sir...? Ashley Armstrong." He read the recruits name. "He looks remarkably like..." Becker gazed at his boss.

"Connor Temple? Yes, he does. Shouldn't be a problem, this man will be in uniform, Connor will be in civilian attire!"

"But are they related sir?" He turned around trying to see Connor's face in the distance outside Lester's temporary office.

"Connor's file says nothing about him having a brother, whilst Ashley Armstrong does. I have a friend in the registry office; he made some enquiries into Connor's background. He does have a brother, but I don't think Connor knows. Their parents divorced when they were barely a year old, both parents taking one twin." Lester paused.

"This stays between us, if Connor doesn't know about his brother, leave it that way. If Armstrong asks questions, let him investigate on his own time."

"Yes Sir, I'll have him trained up and ready for field work within the week." Becker left Lester's office and went down to the front gate where the new soldier had now arrived.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Ashley had not known what to wear and he was wearing jeans, a casual white shirt, open at the neck and a black leather jacket.

"Captain Becker?" He extended his hand. "Ashley Armstrong, Ash for short, I was told to report to this address, but it looks like building works are going on!"

"Yes, we had an accident here recently." Becker replied grimly. Ash heard the tension in the captain's voice.

"I hope nobody was badly hurt?"

"I'm afraid our team leader died. The funeral was yesterday, so people are a little upset."

Ashley stood back. At the funeral, the young Captain had a remarkable stoic, unbreakable quality about him, but now, closer up, Ash could see the cracks, that Connor was not the only one who was hurting.

He followed Becker as he showed him around the building. It was clear that a lot of damage had been done and in the process of repairing everything that had been damaged, he saw many people around him, and there was a sombre mood in the entire building.

They walked through the atrium where young Connor was working. Ash noticed his brother, the almost black attire, broken by the bright yellow t-shirt, he was pale, his eyes although not puffy, had a red tinge to them. He rushed around from the large screens to the keyboard in front, to another machine at the side. Ash saw the woman he had identified as Abby talking to him, but he could not hear them clearly. He watched as Lester approached him and set a task.

Although Ash had read the files, - Christine had given him, and he knew everybody who worked in the building, he still asked Becker, who the individual people were. He started with Connor, his duplicate.

"I'll introduce you later, for the moment, I'll take you to the locker rooms, there are some spare uniforms, and you'll need those, especially since you look so much like Connor we need to ensure that there is a clear difference between the two of you. You look very much like him... Are you related?"

"Not sure," Ash lied. "Though it does look kinda strange, doesn't it?"

They had just reached the locker rooms when the anomaly alert claxon sounded.

"I want you to stay here, report to McDonalds at the front gate. He'll show you the ropes for the first few days." Becker turned and ran towards the hub.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Ash changed his clothes and put on the ill-fitting uniform. He found his way to the front gate where McDonalds was waiting. He was surprised to see and hear Captain Becker, Jenny, Connor, and Abby return so quickly, and wondered if this was normal.

Captain Becker introduced Ashley to the team briefly, Jenny was fuming, and she rushed off without really noticing the young man, as did Connor and Abby. Abby however, kept turning around to look at Ash as they walked off. Ash realised that she must have noticed the likeness between him and Connor.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

"She seemed to know ALL about us, and the anomalies." He watched, as Jenny crossed her arms, he continued to twiddle his pen. "That's not news to you is it? That was supposed to be Top Secret. No one outside the organisation was supposed to know."

He could tell that Jenny was annoyed.

"Are you sure that the detector was working?" Lester sighed, Christine Johnson was a huge pain in his derriere, and it was getting worse.

"Yeah, we got the same reading from the handheld." Connor knew the readings were correct; they just hadn't been able to see the anomaly. He knew that the detector was working; he had checked it himself.

"But, you can't be certain?" Lester questioned.

"Well... no, but if it wasn't an anomaly, what was it?"

"Did you know this place existed?" She repeated.

Lester didn't bat an eyelid and calmly he replied. "No."

"Right..." Jenny paused for a moment putting her thoughts in order, trying to lead, just as Lester had asked her to. "Then we need to find out exactly what it is that they are doing there?"

Jenny flinched as Lester jumped up from his chair shouting, "Yes! Thank you for stating the blindingly obvious."

She had never seen her boss like this before, he was sarcastic, sometimes he could get under your skin without really trying, but he was never like this. She was sure he knew something and he knew Christine.

"Yes, leave it with me; I'll see what I can do. Off you go." With that, he shooed them out of his office with a wave of his hand.

Abby, Connor and Jenny left Lester's office feeling totally left out of the loop. Something was going on, Lester was hiding something, but they could not place what it was.

"That's not like Lester to shout," Connor muttered as they left his room. "Wonder what's eating at him?"

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Connor was perturbed, he had just answered Abby's mobile phone, and a strange bloke had left rather a disturbing message. Who was Jack? He had said he was back and that he was going to show her a good time? Who was _he_? Connor had been trying to try to get together with Abby; he had once told her that he loved her, only to deny everything, and now this! If things weren't hard enough with Abby, they just had become harder. He tried not to let it get to him, but he was crushed, He felt miserable as he began to join the dots.

THIS ... EX-BOYFRIEND... was back. No wonder Abby wasn't interested in him; kept pushing him away, denying that he was her boyfriend... She already had someone.

Just then, the ADD sounded again; he rushed to the control seat and began tapping away at the keyboard furiously.

"Is this the same place?" Jenny asked walking up behind him.

"No, this is a totally new one. Where's Abby?" Connor concentrated on the information in front of him.

"She's meeting someone, Jack somebody or other."

Connor froze, Jack! Abby was already meeting him? He turned to look at Jenny, did she know about Jack too?

"Come on, we'll ring her on the way."

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Connor sighed as Becker dropped him off outside Abby's flat. He rubbed his face, he was tired, and all he wanted was to go to sleep. The day had been very hard with a Giganotosaurus appearing on a small airstrip, he had tried to distract the creature from the aircraft and its occupants, by driving a trailer away. It had worked, until Connor realised that he would not be able to out run the theropod. The dinosaur had tripped over the motorised vehicle and had injured Connor in the process. He couldn't believe how close he had come to being eaten today, the huge G-Rex had been mere inches away from him; and had it not been for Danny appearing in a helicopter, he would have made a tasty snack for the creature.

The team had worked hard to send it back home. Connor had even managed to get his anomaly-locking device to work, preventing any more creatures coming through.

Towards the end of the day, Abby had told him that she needed to talk to him...

That had filled him with dread and despair... 'Connor - We needed to talk...' coupled with Jack appearing, could only mean one thing.

He opened the door and went in, "Hello," he called.

"Hang on..." Abby shouted from upstairs.

He took a deep breath, he could hear her shuffling around behind him, but could not, would not dare turn around to look her in the face. If he did, he would not be able to say what he had come to say. He was going to be brave about this, if she told him that Jack was her boyfriend he was going to accept it, shake his hand; and walk away.

His poor heart hammered in his chest almost trying to break free; he really wanted to tell her that he still loved her and that he would do anything to make her happy.

"Abby, listen, um... if there's something you want to talk to me about, um, some sort of problem, you can, it's cool, I can um, I can take it."

"You alright?" A voice questioned from behind him, Connor froze for a moment, that wasn't Abby.

He turned around slowly, and he wondered why Abby was not there to greet him, and why was this bloke, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist? Had he interrupted something? Were Abby and Jack in the middle of something when he had come home? Had he lost her already? What did she see in him? He had to be younger than her by at least a few years. Did she have a thing for younger men?

Abby came running round the corner, a worried look on her face. "Will you put some clothes on? Please." She sounded stressed.

"Relax, I couldn't find any conditioner." The man replied. He turned to Connor smiling. "I'm Jack... nice to meet you."

Connor couldn't stand it anymore; he didn't even want to speak to the boy in front of him. He threw Abby an accusing look.

Quietly he replied. "Connor..." his voice almost broke with emotion. He didn't know what to say. He pursed his lips into a thin line; his heart was breaking in two, he waited for Abby to explain herself.

"My baby brother..." She smiled hoping to break the ice.

It took a moment for Connor to understand fully what she had said... Baby brother.

He smiled as she ushered him away, he felt relieved, this wasn't an old boyfriend at all, it was her brother, her little brother, and of course he was allowed to visit her. She was entitled to see him whenever she wanted; he was her brother after all.

"Sorry, I was going to explain," she rushed back to him.

"There's no explanation necessary," he shook his head smiling with relief. "It's your brother."

"You couldn't find somewhere to crash for a few days could you?"

Connor was preoccupied for a moment before he deciphered what she wanted him to do.

"Jack needs somewhere to stay, and I am his sister." She paused for a moment. "It's only temporary Connor."

"Of course," he smiled falsely. "That's cool; I'll stay at a mate's house or something."

"Are you sure you're ok with that?" She watched as he nodded. "Thank you."

Connor knelt down as the diictodons came running to greet him. Where was he going to go? What was he going to do? He thought about his friends, Tom was dead and after his funeral, Duncan had said he never wanted to see Connor again. Connor wondered; did Abby know that he didn't have any friends outside the ARC.

Abby grinned as he knelt down to greet the diictodons, he was so sweet and understanding, meeting her brother this way could not have been easy for him. Yet he had been so thoughtful and so perceptive, she couldn't believe that he had agreed so readily and she hugged him for being so supportive.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

During the day, Ash kept receiving texts from Captain Wilder to ring Christine, but he had been kept busy by Becker, and didn't get a chance to ring her until later that evening.

"Why haven't you called?" Christine snapped in her crisp and clear voice. "You were under instruction to ring me the moment you arrived!"

"Look. I assume you didn't want me to blow my cover? So in future, I'll call you, when I've a minute. Ok? Otherwise the deal is off!" Ash hissed. He had not appreciated being called every hour.

He heard Christine huff. "Very well, what have you got to report?"

"Not much, it will take a few days for me to be accepted by the team. They are still a bit wary, especially after Cutter's death."

"Did you find out about the artefact?"

"No, nothing."

"Did you get a chance to install the cameras like I asked?"

"All but one, I didn't get a chance to get near Lester's office. Hopefully I can do it tomorrow."

"Good; and I can go online and watch now?"

"Yeah."

"I shall expect another phone call tomorrow. Don't keep me waiting. I don't _like_ being kept waiting." Christine cut him off.

Ash looked at the phone in his hand. What was this woman after? Why did she want to spy on them? He had tried to find the 'Artefact' but he had not come up with anything.

Ash however, was completely unaware of Christine's hidden agenda. She wanted the artefact for her own purposes. She had seen what the artefact could do, how it could lead her to any destination she wished! How she could use it to thwart their plans!

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Ashley walked down the corridor on his daily patrol of the building; he walked past Lester who was on his way to his office.

"Morning." Lester spoke to him as he walked past.

Ash nodded his reply, and smiled as he walked away. He had been just in time, if Lester had been a moment earlier he would have seen him install a camera inside his office.

He paused at the end of a corridor, Lester was talking to someone, he went back; curious as to whom the other man was chatting with. It was Connor and he looked as if he had just woken up.

"Good Morning," he called to Connor.

"Morning..." came the grunted reply. "Hey, wait... You're the new guy! The one Abby was telling me about, the one who looks just like me."

"I guess we do look alike." Ash smiled. There was so much he wanted to tell Connor; but he had to find the right moment, he had found his twin and he wanted to go up to him and tell him everything. He opened his mouth to say something when the alarm sounded.

Connor looked at him incredulously; that was the intruder alarm. He pulled on his boots and he and Ash went to join Jenny and Becker, who were already on their way to try to find the source of the break-in.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Becker continued walking forwards with his gun in his hand, poised to shoot, Ash joined him, his own weapon raised and ready to shoot. Connor and Jenny followed behind them.

"Helen?" Jenny gasped. She looked at Becker and gave the order to shoot on sight.

Becker kicked the door open in front of them, but all of them were caught by surprise as they saw the man in front of them.

"Whoa."

"I don't believe it." Jenny muttered.

"You've really got to do something about your security!" Danny quipped. "And you certainly don't want him here!" He stepped forward, grinning and knocked Ash's hat to the ground.

"DC Danny Quinn!" Ash smiled, ignoring his fallen hat.

"Not a DC any more. Anyway Mr Armstrong... also known as Mr Alcoholics Anonymous, what are _you_ doing here?" Danny questioned, ignoring Jenny and he thumped the soldier on the shoulder, propelling him into Connor.

"Unlike you, I work here! _You_ are still an intruder and I've have been given orders to shoot on sight!" He glanced at Jenny whilst still aiming his gun at the trespasser.

"You two know each other?" She questioned.

"We used to work at the local nick together." Ash replied as Danny put his hands up in mock surrender.

Jenny huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Lester's office... Come on!"

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Ash watched from a distance as Captain Becker and Jenny took Danny up to Connor's office.

"Connor!" Abby shouted and she ran up to him.

"You've changed. You weren't wearing that this morning." Abby didn't stop rambling. She began to pull him into her lab.

"Hey! Wait!" But Abby wasn't listening. She pulled him inside and pushed him up against the door.

"Oh, I've missed you! I've wanted to do this for a very long time. Ever since the Mer creatures." She used all her strength to keep him pinned to the door. Her hands on his chest, her lips close to his.

"But ..." Ash became stiff, unsure of what she was going to do. "I'm not Connor," he pulled back as much as he could and winced as she came closer still and for a moment he thought she was going to kiss him.

Abby moved away quickly, almost as if she had been scalded. For a moment there was an uncomfortable silence.

"I'm Ashley..." He watched Abby's reaction and he could tell she was as surprised as he was.

"Oh..." Abby stepped further back.

"I know Connor and I look alike... I'm Ash Armstrong; I'm part of Captain Becker's team." Ash gulped and composing himself extended his hand in introduction.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to... You know..." She pressed her lips into a thin line trying to suppress the red cheeks that were threatening to appear, and then shaking the soldier's hand she introduced herself. "Abby Maitland."

Smiling he exited Abby's lab, he was about to head to the main gate when he saw Christine Johnston being escorted down the corridor.

He pulled his cap over his face, and winced. The infuriating woman was going to blow his cover.

Arriving at the main gate, he heard the Anomaly Alert ring through the building. He waited for instructions; if the Captain needed him, he would be available.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

An hour later, Connor returned in a hurry, the men traded glances as Connor rushed back into the building and into his lab.

Building work was almost complete, and people were moving around the building back into their workstations. One of the office girls was struggling with a huge box and she asked Ash and Justin McDonalds to help her move a box into the main atrium.

From a distance he could see Christine's right hand man go into Connor's empty lab, he saw the man touch something and then fall to the ground. He was about to rush in himself when he spotted Danny going in after him. Through the toughened glass, he watched as Danny spun away from the man on the ground, and punched the alarm on the side of the lab before making a hasty retreat.

Ash ran up to him. "What's going on Danny? I saw him touch something in Connor's lab."

"He's dying. Some sort of fungus growing on his face and hands."

It wasn't long before Connor came along, both he and Danny dressed in bio-containment suits; went in to assess the man inside.

Ash kept his firearm raised just in case he was needed. He sniggered as he was asked to escort Christine and Captain Wilder out of the building.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Danny, Sarah, and Lester watched the creature as Connor turned up the temperature. The creature was trying hard to get out. The air around it was drying it out; and it began to swell.

"Something's happening," Danny muttered as Connor joined them in front of the huge screen.

The creature swelled to massive proportions and then exploded.

Sarah screamed; they all ducked as the residue hit the glass. Gingerly they stood up looking for the creature.

"Result!" Connor smiled, giving Danny and Ashley a high-five.

With the knowledge of how to kill the creature, Lester sent Danny, Ash, and McDonalds to aid the rest of the team, Connor and Sarah were kept behind in order to stop this from infecting anyone else.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

The disused tunnels were dark and moist. Warm air filtered down from above, unusual noises filled the quiet that surrounded them. More than once Ash turned towards a scuffling noise only to find a rat scampering away.

They continued searching the tunnels for the creature, all of them toting huge flamethrowers. They had found a way of killing the creature.

Jenny's phone rang. He listened to Jenny's half of the conversation, but all that he could make out was that she couldn't hear the person on the other end.

"Come with me!" Becker shouted, and they ran through the tunnels to find Danny.

Danny had found the creature and they were about to burn it when Jenny's phone rang again.

"Stop!" she shouted. "Fire doesn't work, stay away from it!" She ordered. "Don't let it touch you! Follow it!"

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

"You ok?" Danny asked. He looked over to Ash, the man who had been his partner on many occasions. He knew Ash very well and this was not like him at all. He was pale, shivering, and looked as if he was going to pass out.

Ash's eyes fluttered. He began feeling cold.

"I'm cold... So cold." He continued to shiver and shake, even more than before.

"Has that creature touched you?" Danny queried.

"No." Feeling his joints freeze he collapsed to the floor in front of Danny. Ash knew that Connor was in trouble, he knew that wherever Connor was, he was freezing, and that the sub-zero temperatures could cause his death. "No." He could not let that happen.

"McDonalds... Get him back to the ARC." Jenny ordered.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

**_Oh dear it seems that Ashley can feel Connor's most intense feelings._**

**_Please tell me what you thought... _**

**_Reviews are love... They help feed the ever hungry muse... _**


	4. Chapter 4

_**The Curse**_

_S__poilers__: Season 3 onwards_

_A/N__: This story is different from my 'Saving' series of stories. I liked the idea of Connor being a twin, so have brought his brother back, to avoid confusion in this story I have called him Ashley. The Other Characters, whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

_**Thanks go to Basched for the Beta reading I have made changes since she read this so any other errors are all mine. This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!**_

**_Warning - Core Character death!_**

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

Lester watched as Ashley was brought back to the ARC. He was shivering continuously, and someone had given him a blanket to keep him warm.

"Where's C-C-Connor?" The young soldier shook with cold.

"Are you and Connor brothers?" Lester pursed his lips into a thin line.

Ash looked at his boss, it was clear that Lester knew, that he had put the information he had together and come up with the truth. Connor was his twin and he was experiencing the extreme cold that Connor was feeling. He turned and stared through the glass of the wrecked lab.

"Come on Connor give us a sign." Ash spoke aloud, hoping his brother could hear him. He glanced at the temperature gauge, minus thirty and still going down. He felt the cold even more now.

"It's dying." Lester stated, and Ash watched as the fungus withered away.

Ash knew, even before Connor had given a thumb up signal that he was still ok. He rushed inside the lab himself once Lester had given the go ahead to get him. This was his brother and he was not going to let him down. Taking off his own blanket, he wrapped it around his younger brother. He would warm up himself once Connor was feeling better.

He gave Connor a hot drink and he began rushing around the building preparing the atrium, setting out huge tubes to make the room as cold as possible. Within minutes, he felt himself getting warmer.

Soon Connor was moving around too, he was wearing a thick coat and he had the look of a little child as he rushed around excitedly.

"It's working!" He smiled at the man who had given him a blanket and a coat to wear. "Soon this place is going to be colder than the North Pole!"

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Ash followed Connor as he rang Danny; he was telling him to keep the creature in isolation for as long as possible.

"Eh?" Connor froze mid conversation. He looked up to him, "They've lost the creature."

"Oh fuck!" Ash swore. "What do we do now?"

"Wait for Danny I suppose." Connor began to rack his brains, while Danny, Jenny Becker and Abby, made their way towards them.

Ash stood alongside Becker, Danny, Jenny, and Abby.

"Guys listen up, we need to find the creature, it'll be hiding somewhere dark, and we need to force it down this corridor and into the main operations room."

"How do we do that?" Abby asked.

"Freezing carbon dioxide!"

Ash grinned; his brother certainly was the clever one! He had an answer for everything including where they were going to get the carbon dioxide.

"There are three canisters in the operations area." Abby shouted. Ash followed Abby and Jenny into the operations area.

They managed to retrieve them when Jenny's phone rang.

"You two carry on, I'll be there in a minute." Jenny ordered, unaware that she didn't have any time at all, that the fungus-man was above her right this minute and it wouldn't take long for the creature to kill her.

She turned slowly to see the huge animal behind her. If she didn't get out of there and fast, she would die.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Ash watched Abby as she shouted at something. Curiously, he went up behind her and found what she was looking at.

Jenny was still in the operations area and the creature was right behind her. He watched as she sprayed the creature.

Ash melted into the background as the others entered the room, he was tingling, and the feeling usually brought about a change in him that he didn't want to experience right now. He tried to subdue his inner animal instincts. He didn't need them right now, not in front of the new team, but he was fighting a losing battle.

Not able to control himself any longer, he moved away from Lester, Danny, Becker, Connor, and Abby. He went into the corridor and away from the operations room.

.

-o-o-o-

.

Danny could bare it no longer, he needed to do something; Jenny was going to die! He rushed into the operations room holding a canister of carbon dioxide. He encouraged the creature to come after him.

Suddenly, from nowhere, a wolf appeared; it began snarling and barking at the creature, who tried to catch it. The creature was slow, and its large feet slowing it down. The wolf was fast, almost running circles around it, managing to keep the creature away from both Danny and Jenny.

Soon the fungus-man began to slow down, the cold air around it was working and it was dying, then it stopped completely, crumbling away into nothing.

The wolf shrank into the shadows once more, as the team gathered around Jenny.

"Where's that dog gone?" Lester questioned.

"You have some wonderful pets around here Lester." Danny smirked, "Where is that wolf? I'd like to say thanks."

Lester sent McDonalds on an errand to find the wolf as quickly as he could, He didn't want loose animals running around the ARC.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

The team waited until the fungus growing on Jenny died; quickly they took her into one of the rooms to the side of the Operations area and began to resuscitate her.

Ash burst into the room alongside them, his Kevlar vest and buttons to his shirt undone. He had brought the breathing apparatus.

"Not again, not again," Connor muttered. Ash could clearly see that he was anxious and he felt Connor's concern for the woman. He knew that his brother was distressed and he did not want Jenny to die.

He waited as Abby checked her pulse. Danny grabbed her hand and rubbed it furiously.

Medics arrived quickly and wheeled Jenny away, trying hard to kick-start her breathing along the way. The whole team followed her trolley up to the medical wing, praying that she would survive.

It was too soon, they had only just buried Professor Nick Cutter and to lose Jenny too would be disastrous.

Fifteen minutes after Jenny was taken to the emergency room, a doctor came out. Quietly he took Lester into a side room to chat.

They spoke in hushed tones, and no one could make out what the young doctor was saying. Whatever it was, it did not bode well, because the young doctor left after a few moments leaving Lester, ashen faced, sitting in a chair against a wall.

Slowly Lester stood, and he called everyone into the small room. Once Becker, Connor, Abby, Sarah, Justin and Ashley had gathered inside the small room, he told them of Jenny's untimely demise.

Becker stood with his back and head against a wall, his knee casually bent with his foot resting against the wall. Sarah and Abby clutched at each other unable to take in the dreadful news and Connor was the one who stepped closer to the women and taking them under each arm he hugged them, letting them bury their faces into his shoulders, as they wept.

He too found the news terribly distressing, tears rolled down his face unashamedly. He and Abby had worked with Jenny for a long time and her loss reminded them of how fatal the job could be. It had only been a matter of a few weeks, and now Jenny was gone too.

Connor really wanted to tell Abby how much he loved her, that he wanted to be with her, but now was not the time. He decided he would wait until after the funeral.

"I'm sorry," Lester blinked and left the room, a static mask descending on his face. He did not want his staff thinking that he cared.

He turned to Danny and beckoned him to follow before walking slowly back to his office.

Danny could not understand what was going on, he wanted to know if Jenny was going to be OK.

Lester asked Danny to wait in the corridor outside his office.

Sauntering in, he reached into the depths of his filing cabinet pulling out a hidden bottle of whiskey, and a glass. Pouring two fingers, he rang Christine and asked to meet her as soon as possible.

He was sad to see Jenny die in this manner, she had been one of the best PR people he had ever had and probably there would never be anyone like her. She was one of the best and he had enjoyed having her work under him. Lester's heart sank but he tried hard not to let it show. Jenny had been a mere shadow of herself since Cutter's death, and maybe Quinn's arrival was not such a bad thing.

He drank all of it in one go, the amber liquid burned, as it slid down his throat giving him a small amount of courage, enough to carry on. With gloomy feelings in his heart, he called Danny into his office.

"Sit down." He ordered, and repeated himself when Danny didn't comply.

Danny huffed and slouched down in the available chair.

"Is Jenny going to be OK?"

"Jenny Lewis died twenty minutes ago..." Lester tried to sound as stoic as he could, but he was struggling, any moment now his emotional barriers were going to fall and tears were going to flood out.

Danny buried his face in his hands; he had begun to like Jenny. She was smart; or rather she had been smart. He found it hard to accept she was dead, was never going to come back. He began to wonder if Jenny had lived would they have ever had a chance to be together.

Danny stood and wandered aimlessly down to the atrium. Now he realised why Lester had asked if he still wanted the job.

Sadly he joined Ash, Becker, and Sarah. They were huddled together whilst Connor had his arm around Abby as she wept over the loss of her friend.

Stephen's death had been hard, Cutter's death was even harder, but this was harder than both of them put together and her death so soon after Nick's was unbearable.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Christine glowered as she was led into the main atrium, her friend and colleague had died today, Lester was being uncooperative, and she was not happy.

"I'm glad you could join us at such short notice, I wanted you to know... Jenny Lewis died today," he waited for a reaction to this terrible news and he was saddened, when none came, but he continued. "You were right; I do need a man just like Captain Wilder to take over Cutter's job." Lester sighed as he thought to himself, 'heartless bitch!'

"I'm glad you came round to my way of thinking," Christine smiled, at last one of her own trusted men working inside the ARC.

"Oh no, I didn't mean Wilder himself! Oh no, he's doing a far more vital a job on your own staff, but you see Danny Quinn here, is just like him; he has just the right qualifications for the job: Background in the police, management skills, and firearms training ... The perfect choice, I've already cleared it with the minister."

Slowly she walked up to the chosen man, she would have rather Lester had chosen Wilder or Ashley. She didn't trust Danny Quinn... Not one bit!

"Congratulations... I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot more of each other." She smiled, her action not quite reaching her eyes.

The team; saddened by Jenny's death still gathered around Danny and gave him the warmest welcome they could, considering the circumstances.

Danny felt as if even though he had managed to reach his goal, without Jenny everything seemed meaningless.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Ash was assigned security gate duty for the rest of the day and was surprised to see Christine's car approach and be waved in. McDonalds told him that Lester had requested a meeting with her, and she had come straight away.

He had not known Jenny well, but he was sure what he was feeling just had to be Connor, his brother's grief manifested itself once more and Ashley felt his heart breaking. He almost collapsed, let himself feel what Connor was feeling, but he shook his head and like his father had told him yesterday, he tried to lock it away, so he could deal with it later.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Abby opened the door to her flat; she heard laughter coming from inside, then a squawk that sounded like Rex, and something falling off a shelf.

She frowned, what was Jack up to. Silently she walked in; Jack and his friends were too busy trying to catch the flying lizard to notice that she had come in.

Suddenly she flew into a rage, a rage she couldn't control; she normally tried to keep calm, but this time she lost it, lost it completely. Jack and his mates were chasing the Rex around her flat, trying unsuccessfully to catch him.

"Rex!" She called and the little lizard flew straight into her arms.

Abby saw the playing cards on the table, and heard the exchange between Jack and the other boys; it seemed as if he had gambled Rex away in a card game. Her rage went up a notch and then the playing cards began smouldering and caught fire, there was nothing to start the fire, but they seemed to just start smoking and burst into flame.

She turned to glare at her brother and his friends.

Jack had seen this look before, it was not a look he liked, and he had only seen her do this once before when she was angry and he dared not cross her path again.

"Give us the lizard love, I won him in a bet," the dark haired boy approached her with his arms outstretched.

"No," she shouted and in mid air she pushed him away. Her hand had not connected with his body, but he seemed to fly backwards into the sofa behind him.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll get out of here, and you'll leave Rex alone." She spat angrily.

"I'll just collect my money, and I'll go," he stuttered, astonished as to what had just happened and he reached for the money that lay on the table.

Abby glared and raised her hand, fingers reaching out in the direction of the money. Suddenly it began to rise, floating magically in the air. The boy screamed.

"Keep your money, I don't want it," instead the boy grabbed his jacket and fled, his accomplices running behind him.

Jack cowered behind a sofa, wondering what his sister was going to do next, she did not look happy and Jack did not want to incur anymore of her wrath.

Abby knew Jack was hiding, and she knew if she spoke to him now, she would say something that she would regret.  
Instead she took Rex to her room, and laid him on the bed before coming out and shutting the door behind her. She angrily stomped upstairs to the loft where Jack had taken over Connor's old room.

She walked into his room, and raising her hand she willed all his things together.  
Various objects flew around the room magically to land in a heap on the bed, socks, shirts and jeans. Still fuming she grasped the clothes which floated in the air, and shoved them untidily into a rucksack.

Grabbing his bag, she thundered down the stairs to where Jack was still cowering behind a sofa.

"GET OUT!" She thundered, shouting at the top of her lungs. "I _never_ want to see you again! I gave you a home, a place to stay, and you gamble away my things and then you expect me to still keep you around! _Well not anymore!_ I've had enough of you, you're not my real brother and I _don't_ have to keep you around! Get out!" She stomped over to the door and opened it throwing his bag to the floor by her feet.

Red faced, Jack came out, he had expected things to be strange around her, but this was cold. He never expected this from Abby. She was supposed to be his sister; he knew he too had been adopted, but the reminder that they were not related hurt more than she would ever know. He had let her down, in a big way too.

He hung his head as he trudged to the door grabbing his jacket as he did so. He bent down to pick up his rucksack slowly he raised his eyes to meet hers and the sheer contempt that he saw in them made him leave without another word. For the first time in his life Jack was truly on his own, and it was his entire fault. As he stepped over the threshold, he turned to face her once more.

"Goodbye Jack." She muttered before closing it.

Abby was about to storm up to her bedroom to let Rex out, when an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness overcame her. She turned and sat on the steps of the stairs.

She heard her bedroom door being nudged open and she wondered if she had willed the door open or if it had opened by itself. Abby had always been very aware of her magical abilities, sometimes they scared her beyond belief. The fires which started of their own accord, things flying across the room when she was angry, being able to hear animals talk, all of these things made her worry, and so she suppressed her feelings, trying to control what she said and did. She had tried hard to keep her skill hidden from the world, but today she had lost control.

She heard Rex chittering, as the little lizard managed to squeeze through the tiny gap, he flew into the rafters wanting to be away from all the fuss.

Then the little dinosaur heard something he had heard the day the other blonde haired human had moved in, the same day that his favourite dark haired human had moved out - the sound of someone weeping. Slowly he edged out trying to catch a glimpse of the people in the flat. He could only see Abby.

Silent tears dripped down her face at first; then she buried her face in her hands and began to crying. She heard a flapping in the flat and knew that Rex had managed to get out of her bedroom and up into the rafters. She heard more fluttering and flapping as he flew down to sit next to her. Slowly he climbed into her willing arms, as she cuddled him.

He nuzzled her neck trying hard to cheer her up.

"Don't worry Abby, He's gone now." Rex chirruped.

"Maybe you should go and find Connor, he'll make things better." Rex chittered.

Abby blinked. She had always understood the creatures better than she could humans. It was as if she shared a special connection with them. Almost as if she could understand what they were saying to her. She recalled the day when Manny the Mammoth had been trapped on the wrong side of an anomaly. She had heard the prehistoric elephant calling out to his mate in a panic, and then his dismay when he couldn't smell his companions as he was trapped on the wrong side of the anomaly.

Abby thought she'd had a wonderful idea of going to find Connor. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she went out again in search of Connor. She wondered if he would still be at the ARC, and started her search there.

Upon arriving she caught Becker going home, and when she questioned him as to Connor's whereabouts, she was told that Connor had left ten minutes ago with Ash.

"Damn! I've missed him." She muttered sadly. Grief overcame her once more, and sitting behind the steering wheel of her car, she began to weep.

Nick was dead, Jenny was dead, Connor was not around and she had never felt as alone in her life as she did now.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

_Well... The end of Chapter 4..._

_Have any of you figured out what is going to happen to Connor?_

_Where does Abby fit in?_

_Why is Ashley behaving strangely?_


	5. Chapter 5

**_Cursed_**

**_Spoilers: Season 3 onwards_**

**_This chapter is dedicated to Mijo54, a little birdie told me that today is her birthday, and so this chapter is dedicated to her._**

_ A/N__: I liked the idea of Connor being a twin, so have brought his brother back, to avoid confusion in this story I have called him Ashley. The Other Characters, whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

**_Thanks go to Basched, and to YHLH for the Beta reading, I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!_**

_Lots of you were upset by the fact I killed Jenny off. Please do not despair, things will be made clear... _

* * *

**_Chapter 5_**

That night Ash was making his final rounds of the ARC. He was walking past the room where he had found Connor that morning. He decided to take a quick look. At first, he saw the underpants hanging up to then he saw trousers and shirts.  
He frowned as he ventured further into the room and then winced as he saw Connor. He had hoped that he had gone home, but it was clearly not the case.

"Connor, please tell me you have somewhere other than here to stay?"

He winced once more as the look on Connor's puffy face spoke volumes. He sighed.

"You can stay at my place. I've got to finish my rounds, it won't be long, pack up your stuff, and you're coming with me."

"Really? I can stay with you?" Connor smiled. "But I don't even know you, why you look so much like me?"

"I'll tell you everything on the way. I'll be back in a minute for you." Ash nodded.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Arriving at Ashley's flat Connor forgot about the events of the day as he took in the large building. He was surprised at the vast expanse of the studio flat, and he wondered how the soldier could afford such a place on his salary. He looked around, and it became clear to Connor that Ash had recently moved in. The apartment was sparsely furnished, with a bed in a corner, a sofa placed halfway between the bed and the kitchen area.  
There were a few open boxes lying around and Connor couldn't help but walk up to one of them as Ash tried to find him some bed linen. There was a framed photograph lying open at the top of the box he was looking in.

It was a picture of Ash with a friend. Connor frowned, it seemed strange, looking at a photo of someone who looked identical to him in every way, and the gentleman next to his twin looked familiar. He remembered seeing a picture of this man before but couldn't remember where. He didn't hear Ash approaching.

"That's dad." He spoke calmly, but loudly enough for Connor to jump in surprise.

"Your dad?" Connor's eyes widened in shock. The man didn't look old enough to be anyone's father.

"He's your father too." Ash shook his head, correcting him.

"What do you mean?" Connor had always known about his stepfather, but had never asked who his real father was. Were they brothers? Could it be true? Was this the reason why he and Ash looked so similar?

He watched as Ash delved deeper into the box and brought out a photo album. He turned to a photograph.

"Mum and dad on their wedding day."

Tears sprang to Connor's eyes as he saw his mum. He looked at the photo on the next page.  
"Do you know where this picture was taken?"

"Their honeymoon." Connor gulped, his mum had the exact copy of this picture in her own album at home.

"We're brothers?" Connor questioned incredulously.

Ash nodded and turned to another picture in the album.

"This is us," he pointed to a picture of two babies laid side by side in a cot. They could not have been more than four months old.

Connor blinked. He didn't remember the photo but he remembered another picture where he'd been wearing the same outfit. He remembered how his mother would stare at the picture with a tear in her eye. He turned the page with disbelief. The next page astounded Connor, how could any of this be true?

There it was. The picture that his mother looked at and cried. It was his picture. Of him as a little baby.

"How did you get this?"

"It's me at four months old." He paused for a moment, taking in the incredulous look on Connor's face. "That's not you, it's me."

"How can you be sure?" Connor was having a hard time taking all of this in.

"See that mole." Ash pointed to a spot just to the right in the hairline on the photo. "Do you have one?"  
Connor frowned, he'd never had such a mark, and he shook his head.

Ash reached up and moved his fringe up and out of the way. It was small but it was there, a small mole, so small that if you didn't know it was there, you'd miss it.

His knees became weak and Connor suddenly needed to sit down. He wobbled to the sofa and plonked himself down, the album still in his hand. He gulped and looked up at his brother.

"I need to make a phone call."

"Me too." Ash strolled away to the kitchen, pulling out his mobile phone from his pocket as he did so.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Connor dialled his mum. The phone rang a few times before she answered.

"Hi mum, it's Connor. You OK?" He began to make small talk for a while, before he launched into what he really wanted to ask. He would have liked to have asked her face to face but Lancashire was miles away and it would take a while before he could see her. What he wanted to ask could not wait until he saw her next.  
He asked if she had been keeping well, if she had been taking her medication regularly.

He listened to her replies, she told him about her recent boyfriend and what he did for a living. He really couldn't be bothered about her latest flame, if he knew his mother, it would be over in the next month and she would move on.

"Mum, I need to ask you something, please answer me truthfully." He waited until he knew he had her attention. "Mum, when I was born... Was I the only one?"

The other end of the line went quiet.

"Mum, was I the only one?"

"Why do you ask?" she spoke softly, her voice almost a whisper.

"Am I a twin?"

He heard her sniffle, very quietly but it was there. The sound a confirmation of what he'd been told. But he wanted to hear it from _her_. He wanted _her_ to tell him the truth, something she had kept hidden for many years.

"What's his name? What was my brother's name?"

"Ashley. Ashley Armstrong." A tear rolled down Connor's cheek. She had told him the truth.

"Why mum? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Why didn't I tell you before? Because when I realised what had happened, it was already too late. When I had met someone else caring enough to help me with twins, your father was the one who disagreed. _He _was the one who took Ashley away and never came back." Connor heard the pain in her voice and wondered if she was telling the truth.

"When I had you and your brother I wasn't well. I wasn't well for a long time, Post-natal Depression wasn't recognised in those days, and your father, didn't support me when I needed him. He was never there. I struggled with you and your brother, trying to look after you day after day, both of you; it wasn't easy at all." She paused. "Please tell me that you've met him, that you've finally met each other." Connor heard her voice crack.

"Yeah." Connor looked over to the man who stood in the open plan part of the kitchen. It was like looking into some sort of weird mirror. He didn't hear the rest of what his mother had to say. He mentally switched off his hearing and his thoughts focused on his brother...

His Brother.  
He had a brother.  
A twin brother.  
One he had not known about until now.

Connor felt betrayed. Let down by his mother, why had she kept such a big secret? What did she gain by not telling him about his sibling? Suddenly he felt differently towards his mother. She had lied to him for SO many years, leaving him with a bitter taste in his mouth.

"I've got to go mum." Without listening to what his mother said, he clicked off the phone.

Connor sat for a moment, his head in his hands, wondering what to do. He heard to doorbell to the flat, and waited for Ash to answer.

To Connor's surprise, a man walked in. He had short spiky hair, a wide smile, and his eyes were a beautiful brown, just like his. The man looked quite young, and Connor would have said he was in his early thirties. He looked familiar in a strange way. Then Connor looked down at the album in front of him. His mouth dropped open and he realised who the man in front of him was.

"Dad?" He whispered. He couldn't believe it! This man did not look old enough, he had not aged one bit since his wedding day. Could it be possible? Connor hoped he had inherited his father's good-looking genes.

Peter Armstrong looked over to his other son and smiled hopefully.

After receiving Ash's phone call to say that his brother was with him, he had rushed over, he had not seen Connor for 28 years, and he was anxious to meet him.

"Connor?" He spoke in a deep voice and slowly Connor stood up. A mixture of emotions flooded through him, happiness, disbelief, anxiety, sorrow, relief, and more happiness. Tears flowed from Connor's eyes as his father hugged him. Years of missing each other were purged in that one moment. Connor sat next to his father on the sofa whilst his brother pulled up a chair.

Before sitting down, Ash went into the kitchen and brought back a crate of beer. Putting a closed box in front of them, he used it in place of a coffee table.

Connor held his father's hand tightly, afraid that if he let go, his father and brother would disappear in a puff of smoke.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Ash picked up a bottle and gave it to Connor, if he was feeling what Connor was feeling; then he was going to need more than just one bottle. Ash sat trying to separate his own feelings from those belonging to Connor. He too was overwhelmed with the emotions coming from his brother and he drank his own beer, almost finishing it with one gulp. He could understand his brother's feelings of betrayal by his mother, disbelief that he was finally meeting his father, overwhelmed by finally meeting not just his brother but his father too.

Ash smirked, there was so much to tell Connor, so much that he didn't know. So much that he would need to know and soon, time was already running out and the sooner that Connor realised and accepted his fate, the faster they could move on.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

It was only after Connor's third bottle of beer that he began to relax. He had stopped holding Pete's hand after finishing his first bottle and he was gradually getting drunk. He was about to start on his fourth bottle when Pete stopped him. He held the bottle in his hand as Pete spoke.

"Wait Connor... I want you to be able to remember what I'm about to tell you..." Pete had also drunk three bottles and had started on his fourth, but somehow he knew that Connor would not be able to drink too much without getting drunk fast.

"What I'm about to tell you will affect you for the rest of your life; that is unless it's happened already and I'm too late," he looked Connor in the eye.

"Your brother has already started showing signs of inheriting the Armstrong family genes, and I hope that this is not the case, but I fear that you have them too."

"What the intelligence genes? Yeah, I have those already." Connor grinned.

Pete smiled.

"Not those genes, the ones that make you... Different... Make you..." Pete rubbed his face and Connor realised that whatever his father was going to say was not easy. Had he and Ash inherited some sort of cancer that could kill him at an early age?

"Oh god! This was so much easier telling you, Ash!" Pete groaned, running his hands through his hair.

"Why don't we just show him?" Ash suggested.

"Good thinking!" Pete placed his bottle of beer on the box in front of him, as did Ash.

Connor wondered what was going on.

"OK! Don't blink!" Pete told him. Connor smiled and tried to follow the order.

Pete and Ash stood up.

"Ready?" Connor nodded.

The sight, made Connor drop his bottle, the glass smashing into a thousand pieces. He jumped up and hid behind the sofa. Unable to comply with his father's wishes, he blinked and peered over the top of the couch. His mouth fell open, and he started looking around the room for his father and brother, they had vanished, and in front of him were two dogs... No ... Wolves!

He shook his head, rubbed his eyes, and blinked again, staring at the silvery grey wolves in front of him. This had to be some sort of crazy nightmare, his father and brother really had gone, and he was going to wake up any minute back at the ARC.

One of the wolves trotted around and stood behind him. It sat and placed a friendly paw on his shoulder.  
Somehow, the action soothed Connor and he was no longer afraid of the beast. He turned to look into the animal's eyes. They glinted and Connor saw his father in them. He continued to stare as the wolf began to change, back into human form. Not long afterwards, he was looking into his father's face again, his hand still rested on Connor's shoulder.

"Sorry to scare you like that son, but you needed to know... It could happen to you. It's in the genes. I'm sorry, but if you are, it will affect you for the rest of your life, and should you have any, it'll affect your kids too."

Slowly Connor stood up from his crouched position. The effects of the beer had worn off and his emotions of utter confusion returned.  
He turned to look at the other wolf, as it picked up the clothes on the floor with his teeth and he padded into the bathroom. Moments later Ash emerged pulling the zipper to his trousers and buttoning his shirt.

Connor closed his eyes for a moment, trying to digest the events of this evening.

He walked around the sofa and reached once more for the bottle of beer. He gulped at the liquid which slid down his throat and he didn't stop until he had finished the entire bottle.

"Are you ok?" Pete rubbed his back. "It's a lot to take in."

"How ...? Why...? When...?" Connor stuttered.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Pete urged him to sit back down, and told him the story that his father had told him, that his father had told him before that, and so on...

He told him about Lord Cuttershall, his wife and sons. How they had been cursed and doomed to roam the earth as werewolves until the spell could be broken.

Pete turned to Connor. "You've met Lord Cuttershall."

"I have?" Connor questioned incredulously.

"Lord Cuttershall and his wife have protected our family for generations. When your mother and I were going through our divorce, they agreed to help look after you. You couldn't always see them properly, but their helpers were there, sometimes the Cuttershall's themselves. Most recently as Professor Nick Cutter and Jenny Lewis."

Connor's mouth fell open.

"I'll take you to meet them, tomorrow. We'll go to see them after work."

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Pete, Connor and Ash talked for ages.

"Look it's two am. You need to get some sleep." Pete ran his hand through Connor's hair.

"Here drink this." He popped some powder into some water and gave some to Ash and gave some to Connor, before taking some of the doctored water himself.

Ash pulled out the sofa bed and Connor and his father slept together for the first time in years.

Connor awoke feeling refreshed and he felt energised, almost as if he had slept for a full twelve hours. He had been dreaming, a strange dream. He had dreamt that he had met his brother, his father, and of a colourful anomaly, it had glittered with all the colours of the rainbow, and he and Abby had walked through, hand in hand. He looked around, he could smell something cooking, he was expecting to be back at Abby's flat, and then his eyes widened as he realised the truth. He had not been dreaming at all - He was not at the Abby's flat at all!

He was at his brother's flat!

He had met his father!

He gulped, as he remembered what his father had told him.

He was a descendant of a long line of werewolves!

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

"Good Morning!" Pete called as he saw Connor stir. "Sleep well?" he smiled.

"Yeah," Connor stretched and a yawn escaped his lips, he strolled over to the kitchen area and sighed. Pete was casually dressed in a tight fitting t-shirt and jeans. For a moment Connor wished that he had inherited the muscles his father had, instead of the werewolf gene. "What time is it?"

"7 a.m." Pete smiled as he heard Connor approach, Ash was in the shower and Connor's slight build gave him away.

"Here you go, breakfast." He passed over a plate of scrambled eggs, sausages, and mushrooms.

"Thanks... It's been a long time since I've had breakfast like this."

Pete looked up.

"Well you know mum; she never gets up before 10 o'clock if she can help it. I had to get my own breakfast." Connor stared at the plate in front of him not knowing where to start.

"Really...?" He paused for a moment, watching his son stare at the plate. "It won't bite back you know."

Connor grinned, picked up a sausage, and bit into it.

Even though Connor really didn't want to go into work, he made himself go. He had told his father about Jenny's death, how it had shocked and upset him. His father had reassured him that all was well and not to worry too much about her. With a pat on their backs, sandwiches in their hands, his father sent both his sons off to work.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Abby was surprised to see Connor in Lester's office. She had spent a very lonely and upsetting night at her flat, and she wanted Connor to move back in soon. Most of the evening she had spent tidying the flat, and weeping. She was grieving for Jenny and Nick. The two people who had mattered the most to her had been snatched away in a very unsavoury fashion and she missed them. Jack's selfishness hurt her too and having thrown him out didn't help.

She waited to talk to the constant in her life - Connor. She wanted him back, and this time there would be no lies, no pretence. She loved him, and today she was not going to hold back, she was going to tell him. She was going to let him back into the flat and tell him everything.

Connor came out looking flustered, he was looking extremely unhappy. When Abby questioned him, his rather damning remark hurt her.

"I suppose you knew too?" Connor spat angrily.

"Knew what?" Abby questioned, thoroughly flummoxed by his accusation.

"That the new guy, Ash; he's my brother?"

"No! I didn't know!" Abby raised her voice at him, just as he had raised his. Her bottom lip began to wobble, her eyes began to sting, and she couldn't believe that he thought she was capable of keeping this sort of information from him. "What makes you think I did?"  
She tried hard to keep her emotions in check.

"Well, Lester did! He didn't sound at all surprised when I told him." He grunted angrily.

"You're staying with your brother then...? Big, family reunion...?" Nonchalantly she stuck her hands into her back pocket, and gulped, trying very hard to stop the tears that threatened to fall.

Connor nodded, his anger abated, "Yeah, something like that." He seemed happy to have found a sibling.

"That's ... Great!" She smiled and walked away backwards, before turning to flee through the doors.

She ran to the ladies, and locked herself into a cubicle before breaking down sobbing.

"Well I didn't know the two of you were brothers, and I've known Ashley for a lot longer! 'Ere Conn, tell me something. Are you and Abby an item?" Danny couldn't help but stare at Abby's retreating form.

"No... Well, not yet."

"Well, you're spoiling your chances in a big way! She's just run off, and if I didn't know better, I'd say she was crying."

"Oh bloody hell!" Connor kicked himself, and went out looking for her.

"Ash!" Danny called.

Ash turned towards his new team leader.

"Why didn't you tell me? That day when I told you they'd been at the Old House, you told me that Connor wasn't your brother! Why?" Danny was angry that Ash hadn't trusted him enough to tell him.

"Because at the time Connor didn't know, I didn't want you telling him about his family. He deserved to hear it himself, from _me! _I didn't want him finding out from strangers, I only got a chance to speak to him last night."

"Yeah so how come Lester knew?" Danny questioned, He had heard enough of the exchange in Lester's office to know what was bothering Connor, and he was still annoyed that Ash had not trusted him.

"I don't know, probably the same reason Becker knew." Ash muttered, and glared at Becker, before turning and walking off to begin his days work.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Connor followed Abby around he wanted to make it up to her. He hadn't meant to snap at her, and the fact he had upset her, left him feeling horrible.

He guessed that she had hidden herself away in the toilets, he saw the closed door of the cubicle and he gently tapped on the door.

"Abby I'm really sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you. Can you open the door so we can talk?" He heard the toilet flush, and slowly the door began to open.

"Connor! Do you mind?" Sarah looked at Connor incredulously.

Connor blushed, embarrassed to be caught inside the ladies toilets, and he looked again and heard sniffing coming from behind another closed door. He watched as Sarah washed her hands, and left, and then he tried again.

He approached the closed door of the cubicle, and he gently tapped on the door.

"Abby I'm really sorry; I didn't mean to snap at you. Can you open the door so we can talk?" He heard her sniff again, blow her nose and then very slowly she opened the door.

Her eyes were puffy, and Connor was sure that not only had Abby been crying, but he had never seen her so upset before.

"I'm sorry; I really am; I kinda flipped when I found out that Lester actually knew that Ash was my brother, and I automatically assumed you knew too." Gingerly he reached for her, putting his arms around her and Abby leaned into him. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her, but felt it was too soon, so much had happened, so much was happening, and the time was not right.

"You know I came looking for you last night, but Becker told me that you'd gone home with Ash." She paused and pulled away from him slightly. "Is it true then ... Ash's your brother?"

Connor nodded. "I only found out last night, I had to ring me mam to check. He's got everything, family albums, the lot, everything that shows I'm his brother. He's even got a ring around his neck like mine. He told me that Granddad gave them to us." He fingered it, rolling it around on the leather band that kept it around his neck, and thought about what his father told him – that he must never lose this ring.

"Why do you come looking for me anyway?" Connor questioned remembering what she had told him.

Her brow furrowed for a moment.

"Yeah, I was going to say you can move back in if you want... I threw Jack out last night." She told him with sadness in her voice.

"But Jack's your brother, why'd you go and do that for?"

"Because he was gambling yesterday, and he gambled away Rex, gambling away my stuff was out of order, so I threw him out!" She walked over to the sinks and with her back to him she spoke again. "He's not my real brother anyway; it's not as if we're really related."

Connor gazed at her reflection in the mirror and waited for her to look into it; he wanted to look into her eyes so he could tell if she was being truthful. When she didn't look at him, he realised the truth. That Jack had hurt her so badly that she had no choice but to throw him out and now she was regretting it. Even if Jack wasn't her real brother, she still loved him and Connor knew that the simple act of throwing him out had torn her into pieces.

Connor hated seeing her like this, and he swore that he would try to bring them back together.

But now was not the time, he had stuff that he needed to do; things he needed to investigate and understand about his own past.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Becker somehow knew something was going on. It had been a relatively quiet day at the ARC. There were no creature incursions and Becker watched Connor and Ash, as they went off to lunch together, leaving a very upset Abby behind.

On such an uneventful day, Becker decided to do his own research, and he questioned Sarah and both he and Sarah spent the day trawling the internet trying to find out more regarding the two brothers. He was still intrigued at the end of the day when Ash and Connor's father came to collect them from work.

Becker contacted the guard at the gate – today it was a man called Ferguson. He instructed him to stop the car that was going out with Ash and Connor, and whilst the guard made Pete sign a disclaimer, Becker surreptitiously crept into the boot of the car in which they were travelling.

After a brief stop at the gates, they went on to pick up a beautiful, young lady called Morgana, and as they drove northwards, it seemed as if the car was speeding through the traffic; almost flying along the road, hedgerows seemed to melt as they sped past.

An impossible hour later, they were driving though lush countryside towards castle ruins, in what seemed to Connor to be the outer most region of Scotland. How they had managed to cover the distance in under an hour Connor would never know, everything was happening so quickly it was almost like ... Magic.

As the car drove closer to the ruins, something strange happened and Connor had to rub his eyes to, ensure he was still awake.

The castle seemed to transform before his eyes, it was no longer a ruin, but looked every inch like a stately home. A fine mist hung in the air, and it gave the mansion an eerie look, with turrets which reached into the sky. Vines grew over the walls, windows appeared, and it looked like a well kept mansion.

Pete walked around to Connor's side of the car, and opening the door urged him to come out.  
Gingerly Connor stepped onto the gravel road.

"Good evening sirs," a footman came to their aide. Connor stared at him, he looked familiar.

"Roger?" Connor questioned incredulously. The footman smiled.

Roger Temple had been the one his mother had married after her divorce. They had been married for thirteen years until Roger's untimely accident, which had led to his death.

"How is this possible?" Connor asked incredulously. Roger was dead!

"You will understand soon enough, Sir."

"Sir ...?" Connor blinked, why was the man he had called dad for thirteen years suddenly calling him sir?

Connor; along with the rest of his party were led inside, to a large hall. A chandelier hung by the stairs; the wooden floor was clean, and polished and their footsteps echoed as they were led further inside the house to an even larger dining hall. The floor here was a lush red, deep pile, carpet, and Connor looked down at his trainers and hoped that they were clean; he would hate to leave muddy footprints all over this floor.

He heard the delicate clink of glass behind him, and he turned towards the sound.  
His mouth fell open...

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Well, next chapter will hopefully be better for you.

I have changed the image to the book cover, it is Eddie McClintock who I have playing Connor's father, and I will be changing it once more before this story is over.

_Remember, reviews are love, and help feed the muse._


	6. Chapter 6

**_Cursed_**

**_Author_****_: Sandylee Potts_**

**_A/N_****_: Morgana, and Merlin Belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._**

**_Thanks go to Basched, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!_**

* * *

_He heard the delicate clink of glass behind him, and he turned towards the sound._  
_His mouth fell open..._

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

**_Chapter 6_**

"Connor, close your mouth, it's rude to stare." Pete smiled at the lady pouring drinks.

"Jenny..." Connor whispered, and then he wished he hadn't been so loud. He couldn't believe that he was talking to Jenny. She had died yesterday. They hadn't even been to her funeral.

She smiled, "Please, call me Claudia," handing Connor and Pete a drink.

"Drink up young Connor, you're going to need it..."

Connor froze at the voice he had just heard. It couldn't be possible, it just couldn't, he was dead, he had carried his body out from a burning building, and it couldn't be possible, they had buried him about a month ago!  
He turned again, this time to face the man who had spoken ... The man with the unmistakeable Scottish accent.

"Cutter...?" Connor blinked, his head began to spin, and someone grabbed the glass from his hand before he collapsed in a heap on the floor.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Connor woke to the feeling of a cold damp cloth being pressed to his forehead and cheeks.

His eyes fluttered open and he wished that this nightmare would end. So many things didn't make sense. Such as why was Jenny, or was it Claudia Brown tending to him? How was it possible that Cutter, Jenny and Roger were still alive?

"Is there anything more you wish for Madam?"

Connor screamed. The man who had spoken was clearly the butler, but looking and sounding like Stephen Hart!

Oh why, oh why were all these dead people coming back to haunt him?

Connor needed answers and he needed them now!

"No that will be all, thank you Stephenson." Claudia smiled at the butler who excused himself.

Ash, who had been quiet for a long time, was standing by the large ornate windows. He had met everyone before and this conversation was not as surprising for him as it was for Connor.

"I just have one question...?" He turned to face the others in the room. "Why is Captain Becker here?"

Cutter joined him by the window and sent his friend and butler, Stephenson, out to fetch the soldier. He saw it as a help not a hindrance that Becker was here. The man's integrity was without a doubt, perfect and he would help them to the best of his ability.

Outside the building, all that Becker could see was an old ruin. He couldn't understand why Connor, Ash and Pete had come so far to view such an old ruin. To top it, he couldn't see them at all in the crumbling remains. Surely with a building in this state of disrepair, he would be able to see them? Suddenly a smart young man dressed in a suit walked out from what looked like the entrance.

"Captain Becker?" The blonde haired gentleman spoke. "I've been asked by the Lord to escort you inside." He bowed, snapped his fingers and suddenly Becker could see the impressive house with all its finery.

His mouth fell open as he followed the man who had introduced himself as Stephenson.

Becker followed him into the stately house, astounded by its sudden appearance. He looked around the sumptuous room; he was surprised to see so many people gathered, so many faces...

Of people who were meant to be dead!

His mouth fell open and all he could do was stare ... The people he was staring at were Cutter, and Jenny.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Connor gulped down two glasses of brandy before he could concentrate, the amber liquor giving him the strength that he needed to hear the story behind his heritage. Whilst Becker, now off duty allowed himself just one drink and he sipped at it slowly.

The woman who called herself Claudia spoke, she reminded him of the tale his father had told him; all of which was true. Their family was cursed, forced to live throughout the ages as werewolves, until they could complete their mission, and complete the ritual which would set them free them from this awful situation.

She pointed out various people who were in the room. A very elderly and frail gentleman sat in an armchair, a blanket draped over his legs, his piercing blue eyes not wavering from Connor in the slightest.

"This ... Is Merlin." She waited for his reaction.

Connor opened and closed his mouth like a gold-fish for a moment.

"He has helped us over the centuries, to try and help us break this curse. He has been the one to help us through this time."

"But that would mean that you are..." quickly he did the mental maths. "800 years old!" He whispered.

He wasn't sure that he believed any of it! Nobody lived to the ripe old age of 800! Even Doctor Who needed to regenerate every so often, and _this_ was just impossible!

Claudia nodded.

"The child does not believe us." The old man croaked and sneered as he stood, the blanket falling to the ground. He hobbled across the cold room to the fireplace.

"Tan yn dechrau!" He held out his hand over the cold logs, suddenly there was a flash of light and the logs were set alight. He looked over to Connor, who although his mouth was wide open; he still did not believe that he was who he said he was.

He held out his hand once more, this time in another direction.

"Dŵr domen!" A vase full of flowers levitated, and began to move across the room towards Connor.

All that Connor could do was watch, the vase came towards him and hovered over his head, he couldn't move as the urn tipped, and he was covered in flowers and dirty water as the contents came spilling out.

Connor spat out the stagnant water in his mouth. "OK... I believe you!" He muttered.

The old man smiled, his blue eyes twinkling in the light. "Sychu'r," he clicked his fingers, and a gust of warm air whirled around Connor, drying his clothes and hair.

Connor closed his eyes, turning to Cutter, or the man he had thought of as Cutter and spoke.

"What I don't understand is how you're alive? We buried you...! I carried you from the burning ARC. You were dead...! Helen shot you!" Then he turned to Claudia. "You died yesterday, killed by ..." Connor struggled for words. "... Fungus the bogeyman."

"You see Merlin here has enchanted us..." Claudia told him. "So that we could appear in your life and make subtle changes, Roger here, married your mother, and encouraged your love of dinosaurs so that we could ensure that you made your prehistoric dinosaur database, when he was killed by Lady Christina, we lost contact with you, until you applied for a place at the Central Metropolitan University.

"What you saw were reflections of us in your life..." Cutter interjected, he paused he knew Connor was trying to understand but he needed to make himself clearer. "It's a bit like this." He stood and closed his eyes. "I can be standing here talking to you..."

"And then I can talk to you from here." A voice echoed from the other end of the hall. Connor turned to stare at both men; it was Cutter all right. But in two places at once?

"Twins...?" He muttered trying to make sense of it.

"Try again..." Merlin answered.

"Duplicate?"

"Try again..." the vase began to hover over Connor's head once more.

"Magic?" he squeaked, afraid to be soaked again.

"Well done ... Took you long enough." The smiling image of Cutter who stood in front of him encouraged.

"So...You're all magical...? And whilst you were here, you were also in London watching over me?" Connor questioned.

Cutter nodded.

"You've been watching over me for eight hundred years?"

"On and off,"

"Does that mean I'm eight hundred years old?" Connor thought back to the photographs he had been looking at. Those could not have been possible.

"No... You're not. You see for the past eight hundred years, you've been trying to break the curse, and every time you reach the portal and the golden cauldron with the wrong girl, you die. The ring around your neck; burns a hole through your heart, and you have to be re-born and have to go through the process of finding your true love all over again." The old man called Merlin spoke giving instructions.

"So let me get this right, although Pete, Ash and I are not eight hundred years old, Cutter, Jenny, or Claudia, Roger, and Stephen, are eight hundred? I've got to find a girl, find a glowing portal; I'm guessing it's some sort of anomaly, right?" He looked at Cutter who nodded. "Then through the portal I've got to find a golden cauldron ... once I'm there then what do I do?"

"The golden cauldron must be filled with water from the 'River of Life', once it is full you must stand in it in your wolf from, and your lady love must cut her finger to give at least seven drops of blood. If you, or the girl is not ready, or that she does not love you enough, you will both die, you may or you may not meet her again in another life time. The spell must be completed with all three of you, at the same time."

"How will I know the right girl to choose?" Connor wondered, What about Abby, was she the girl to save him from this curse? What would happen if she didn't love him? She had already pushed him away so many times; he wasn't sure he could handle another rejection.

"She will be able to hear your thoughts." The old man sat in his armchair and the blankets drifted up and lay once more across his lap.

"It's a lot to take in I know, but we'll have the elders to help us." Pete stood and patted his youngest son on the shoulder, indicating Cutter and Claudia as the elders.

"You may not have my help for much longer. My time will come to an end soon, and it will be time for me to go. My young heir will assist you in your quest." The man called Merlin spoke, and he pointed to the young lady called Morgana, who had joined them on this unusual journey.

Pete leaned over to hug her.

"Dad!" Connor elbowed him. He couldn't believe that he was ogling this young woman old enough to be his daughter!

"You know not my age young man," She smiled as if she had known what he had been thinking.

Cutter stood beside him.

"She's fifty-five!"

"What? But she looks so... Young! How does she do that?" Connor asked incredulously.

"Water from the River of Life!" Claudia laughed at Connor's expression of disbelief.

"Trust me, it works! How else do you think your father, and the rest of us kept our good looks? How we managed to cheat death for so long?"

"OK... So where does the Artefact fit in? Why does Christine want it so much?" Ash pondered.

"The Artefact..." Cutter began.

"Is a map..." Connor interjected unsure if the theory he had reached was actually correct, he recalled that morning as he and Sarah had been fiddling with the lighting on the antique. "It's a map of the anomalies..." He smiled as the information in front of him began to make sense. He looked at Cutter who smiled, his smile encouraging him to develop his theory. "It tells us not only where the anomalies are and when they will open, but ..."

Connor watched as Cutter ran his fingers over his face. His eyes widened as he realised.

"It tells us where to find the River of Life!"

"Well done!" Cutter smiled genuinely.

Connor punched the air in jubilation. "Yes!"

Becker; had a few questions of his own.

"Am I – like the others magical in any way? Where do I fit in? How do the anomalies fit in?" He breathed in deeply, preparing himself for the answers.

"No – You are not. You do however possess qualities which will be very useful to us in the quest. You will be very handy in overcoming obstacles put in our way. Lady Christina has her own army which need to be defeated, your SAS training, will help." Cutter informed him.

"Lady Christina, I take it that she is Christine Johnson?" Becker began to join the dots in his head, making connections as to why things were happening.

Cutter nodded.

"Talking about Johnson... She knows; she has photographs of me and dad, in our non-human form! She also wants the Artefact!" Ash interjected.

Becker blinked. "It was you; you tried to save Jenny's life!"

Ash nodded.

"We have to get them back, we have to destroy her; she is trying to take control of the ARC. If she gains control, all is lost. She will prevent you from completing your mission." Merlin explained.

"Tell me, how many members of the team are affected like Connor and Ash? Is Lester involved? Does he know?" Becker questioned, he didn't believe any of it, and it sounded as strange as the anomalies and dinosaurs, but after having worked at the ARC, he was ready to believe anything.

"At the moment we think it's just Connor and Ash, but we have a feeling Abby might be the one to help Connor. There's a strange aura around her that suggests she may be a key-person. Lester doesn't know; he's not involved; but it might be a good idea if he knew. He'll have to be told ... Everyone will have to be told, eventually." Claudia enlightened.

After a long time chatting, Stephenson led everyone through to the huge dining room where dinner was served. An extra place was set for Becker and he was allowed to join them at the table.

"Stephenson, please join us for dinner?" Claudia requested. Stephenson was not just a butler, he was their friend and they all regarded him as such.

"Thank you for the offer Madam, but I am going to decline this time. You have much to discuss and in Ryan's absence there is lots to do."

Ash watched as the man called Stephen, turned and left, and he wondered what was so important that could not wait.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Christine's phone rang, it trilled several times before she picked up the receiver.

"What an unexpected pleasure to hear from you, I hope you have something useful to tell me?" Christine smiled.

"Very interesting... Young Connor and Ash are brothers; it explains why they look alike ... Ah, Becker's now involved too?" Christine smiled widely.

"Thank you for keeping me informed, you will be not be forgotten when the time comes. Do they realise how little time they have left before they are doomed for all eternity?" She smiled again at the negative answer she was given, and replaced the receiver. Hopefully they would only realise when it was too late.

Time for the Cuttershall family was running out, sands of time through an egg-timer, sliding away. In a matter of months, the Cuttershall siblings would remain werewolves and monsters for the rest of time, and there was nothing that the Lord or Lady could do to help.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

_Oh Dear... I wonder who that could be giving Christine information? _

_Virtual Cookies to anyone who leaves a review!_


	7. Chapter 7

_**The Curse**_

_**A/N**__**: Morgana, and Merlin Belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me.**_

_**Thanks go to Basched, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!**_

_**Thank you to all who have reviewed and put this story on alerts. You have no idea how much this means to me.**_

* * *

_**Chapter 7**_

_**.**_

At the dining table, Cutter, Pete, Ash and Captain Becker tried to come to a solution regarding the files that Christine had gathered. They all agreed that it was necessary to destroy the contents, and to ensure all negatives were destroyed too. Such a file being sent to the press would be disastrous, and they could not afford any information regarding their family be made public.

Becker agreed to be their back-up, and he was put in charge of not only keeping everyone safe, but supplying all ammunition that could be needed.

.

-o-o-o-

.

Stealthily they crept into the large glass building. Cutter had never seen anything like it and he agreed with Becker and Connor, Christine most probably had an anomaly opening device, and was using it for her own purposes. He was aware of the limited time they had to break the curse. He knew that if the curse was not broken by midnight of the midsummer solstice then his family was doomed to remain werewolves for all eternity.

Connor had managed to hack into a government database that showed him the layout of the building. Locating Christine's office, they crept towards it. Unbeknown to them a guard was slowly walking towards them.

"Excuse Me...? Who are you ...?" The guard questioned.

Becker, with his gun in his hand, simply replied "Pest Control..."

Ash stepped behind the man and putting a friendly hand on the soldiers shoulder began to squeeze.

The man's knees went wobbly, and as he began to fall, Becker hit him hard on head, knocking him out.

"How did you manage to get his knees to give way like that?" Becker questioned.

"There's a pressure point in your neck, and if you squeeze the right place, you can disable your opponent really quickly." Ash grinned. "They teach you at the police academy."

Pete pulled the guard into a side room and stripped him of his clothes. Then taking the man's gun he pretended to escort Cutter to Christine's office.

Becker tapped Cutter on the shoulder, and pointed to an open doorway. A strange light pulsated from behind it; very carefully they approached the room. He looked around him, and he saw a decorative glass table behind the dark orb, seeing papers lying around, he went to investigate.

Cutter was not surprised to see a black anomaly, it glittered like black diamond's hanging in the air and knowing that this particular anomaly would not close on its own, he went through.

Christine had details of everyone involved, Ash, Connor, Sarah, Danny, Abby and even one on himself. There were other files too, Pete was one, his partner Morgana was another, and then there was a file on a woman whose name he didn't recognise at all, there was no picture attached to this particular file. Becker frowned, why were there pictures of keys attached to Abby's, Morgana's files?

Quickly he found the file containing the photographs which Ash had spoken about; he tucked all of the files into his jacket, and zipped it up. Then he grabbed the file which was the most incriminating, and rushed through the anomaly to find Cutter.

.

-o-o-o-

.

On the other side he looked around him. He was in a cave of some sort and the others had ventured further into the dark cavern. Becker gazed around the massive cave. In the distance he could see an opening through which daylight filtered through. Wherever they had arrived, the sun had not set and natural light filtered the cave. The cold stone walls stretched high up before the natural rocks curved back round joined at the top.  
Stalactites hung from the ceiling, with stalagmites growing to join them.

In a corner sat another rickety wooden table, beside it, was a large black cast iron cauldron.

Becker's eyes went wide at the sight, and he picked up a silver chalice that stood upon it, next to some photographs of a beautiful woman. He winced at the remnants of some red liquid that had pooled at the bottom of the chalice, the coppery smell was unmistakable, and he knew that the contents had been blood.

Becker heard a woman's voice and he turned to the direction from where she had spoken.

"Lord Cuttershall, well, well, well... It's a pleasure to see you again." Christine smiled widely. She spoke to Cutter who stood in front of her.

"I wish I could say the same, but I'd be lying." Cutter's Scottish accent lilted.

Becker strolled across, joining Cutter, Pete and Ashley.

He became aware of a creature grunting before him, and slowly he went to investigate.

Cutter stood in front with Ash and Pete flanking him on either side. In front of them stood a huge green dragon and beside it – a woman he knew as Christine Johnson! He watched as the huge creature seemed to bow before Cutter and he wondered why this creature would do such a thing.

Then he heard Christine mutter an incantation and he ran to join Cutter, Ash and Pete.

The creature howled in pain, and it was forced to breathe fire towards Cutter and his friends. Pete hauled the blonde haired man away, knocking the file which contained photographs and negatives of him and Ash in wolf form, out of Becker's hands. The dragon continued blowing fire at the men and the file caught fire.

The men backed away and stood watching as the facts were destroyed. At least they had accomplished what they had set out to do! To destroy all evidence of Ash and Pete.

Christine was about to run after Cutter and his men as they left, but she was stopped by the huge pale, green dragon, it slumped to the ground and thrashed its tail around, knocking her off her feet, and sending her flying towards a rather hard wall.

.

-o-o-o-

.

It was at the end of a school day when the anomaly opened. The school grounds were empty, save for a few stragglers and the after school club that was kept open for any parents who worked.

There were only five children left and the teacher had let them play outside, in the playground. It was a cold, but crisp day and the weatherman had not forecasted snow, yet it blew across the playground, causing the children to scream and laugh at the sight.

Cold snow blew through the anomaly, and the children wanted to play, little Timmy and his friend Jack wanted to see more of the soft, white, snow and went to explore whilst little Millie stayed behind like the sensible girl that she was. Holly and Ruby followed the boys.

Millie began to worry when she heard strange noises coming from the other side.

She saw the strange men arrive and they did something to the glittering ball of light to make it change.

That's when she screamed. Even though she had been told not to speak to strangers, Millie felt that the blonde haired lady was nice, and she told her that her friends were playing hide and seek in the ball.

"They went through there?" Abby pointed to the locked anomaly, whilst Connor unlocked it.

She pointed through the anomaly and nodded. "They went through there."

"We have to go after them. We can't just leave them." Abby looked up at Connor and Danny.

"We've got some equipment in the car, could you give me a hand." Ash tapped Connor on the shoulder, and winked at Becker.

"Sure."

Ashley led his brother back to the car away from everyone.  
"I need to change to help us find those kids."

Ash looked around him.

"Put my clothes somewhere safe, thanks." With that, he crouched, closed his eyes, and willed himself to change.

"You being able to do that; is freaking me out. It's going to take some getting used to." Connor picked up the fallen clothes and put them in his backpack.

Connor joined the others by the anomaly.

"Where's Ash Armstrong?" Danny questioned.

"He had to do something. He'll join us later." Connor replied. He knew that Ash was in his wolf form, waiting for them to go through so that he could race through and help them find the children.

Not long after they stepped through into the freezing, cold, snowy, wilderness, Connor saw a wolf come bounding through the anomaly, he could see him sniffing around, he watched as his brother's ears perked up as he found a scent.

He and Becker exchanged glances, the meaning behind it was clear, Becker was asking if this was Ash, and Connor nodded his reply. They followed Ash as he bounded across to a mound of snow, and he started digging. Connor came up beside him and shouted across to Danny as he found a small hand. Soon the mound of snow had been moved and the Abby took the frozen child back through the anomaly.

Ash moved on to see if he could pick up any more scents. His nose wrinkled, he sniffed some more. This time he could smell something strange, and if he could put a label to the smell, it would be ... Fear.

He moved quickly, if it really was fear, there was a reason behind it. He let out a howl to attract Connor's attention. Soon he could make out the shape of a large animal. It was a large polar bear, and this bear looked hungry. Ensuring that Connor was following he ran towards the huge animal and saw that the bear was growling at two of the children.

He ran around the animal and jumped between the screaming children and the huge bear. He snarled the action a warning to the animal to back away. He leapt towards the animal with the intention of driving the predator away from the children, so that Connor could take them to safety. He lunged, at the animal pushing it back with his front paws; he barked and bit the bear. The bear fought back scraping his claws around Ash's back all the way around to his stomach.

Becker could see the two creatures fighting, he knew that the grey wolf was Ash and meant no harm and so he aimed for the white polar bear. Unsure which creature he would hit if he fired he aimed into the air. A shot rang out and the bear, scared for its own safety, fled.

Carefully he approached the injured wolf. Becker knew there was one child left to find; he rubbed his hand over the animal's fur, taking in the injuries. He hoped that Ash in his wolf form could help them find just one more child. He sent Connor back towards the anomaly with the children, and he turned towards the creature that had helped them.

"Please help us find one more, just one more, can you do that?" He smiled, when the wolf nodded in reply.

The wolf stretched, pain radiated all over his body, but he sniffed the air trying to pick up an odour. Ash's blood ran cold at the scent he picked up... Death. Whoever he could sense was very close to dying, very, very, close to death.

He ran towards the smell, he could tell time was running out. Soon he came to a river.

'Damn!' he thought it would be impossible to find a child now!

Danny had been following, and he shouted.

"Becker! Over here!" Danny ran to the edge of the stream meters away from Ash and pulled out the body of a small child. He ran over. The child was dead.

Danny gritted his teeth. "No! Not this time!" He began to resuscitate the child. Soon after the child began to breathe on his own and Danny looked up and grinned. He looked over to the wolf.

"Thank you, we couldn't have done it without you." Danny smirked as the wolf ran off, back towards the anomaly.

.

-o-o-o-

.

The team locked the anomaly, returned the children to their respective parents, and were clearing up when Ash materialised. His back was still sore and he was buttoning up his shirt when Danny saw him.

"When on earth have you been?" He questioned.

Ash looked over to Connor, who pointed to the tyres.

"You... had...?" he paused trying to understand what Connor was pointing at. Then the penny dropped. "You had a punctured tyre, I fixed it for you."

Danny huffed, not sure, if he should believe him or not. Ash was beginning to annoy him, he was keeping too many secrets and he was sure that his long standing partner was hiding something else.

.

-o-o-o-

.

That night Connor asked Ash if his wounds needed looking at. He had seen the bear's claws scrape along his back, he had seen the resulting scars, but now when he removed Ash's bandages, there was nothing there. It was almost as if it had never happened. There were no scars, no ugly red marks - in fact no marks at all!

Connor gulped, was this something they had forgotten to tell him? Some sort of _Jack Harkness_ type of thing, where his body could repair damaged muscle tissue?

.

-o-o-o-

.

Ryan grunted and tried to stretch as much as his abnormal body would allow. The witch Christine had imprisoned him, shackled him and if he didn't do as she asked she would mutter an incantation making the shackles around his ankle tighter, cutting into his flesh. The only way he avoided punishment was to do as he was told. He could not even return to the Cuttershall family, he had tried that before, and his master, not recognising him had cast a spear in his direction.

The spear had been a mere pinprick on his body, but it had hurt his heart simply because his lord and Master, Nick Cuttershall had thrown it.

A tear trickled down his face as he recalled the last time he had seen his master. Today he had come looking for information, together with his sons. He had recognised Pete, Connor and Captain Becker, although they had not been able to notice him in his altered state. He was stuck like this. No-one could help him, no-one heard him, and although they might be looking, they would not, and could not help him unless the spell which kept him in Christine's castle was broken.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

_**Next chapter Connor gets hurt...**_

_**I wonder what has happened to Ryan...?**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**The Curse**_

_**A/N**__**: Morgana, and Merlin belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me.**_

_**Thanks go to Basched, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. **_

_**This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!**_

* * *

**_Chapter 8_**

It was several weeks later, in the early hours of the morning that Connor, Ashley, Abby, and Becker arrived at the scene of the latest anomaly. It was in the New Forest on the outskirts of Southampton. Danny and Sarah were late getting there and they were minutes away. Connor began to set up the Anomaly Locking Device. He looked over at Abby as he did so. Would she ever realise how he felt about her? Would she ever reciprocate his feelings?

He wondered if she would ever let him go back to stay with her, now that her brother had gone. Her little brother Jack had arrived days ago and Abby had asked him to find somewhere else to stay for a few days. She did not know that Ash had found him sleeping in one of the ARC's many rooms, and that Ash had offered Connor a room at his place. It was after that night that Connor found out that she had thrown him out. He had tried looking for Jack, ringing his number, but to no avail, it was as if Jack Maitland had disappeared from the face of the planet. He knew how much Jack meant to her, and how upset she had been after her brother had

-+ left.

She had her back to him and with a tranquiliser in her hand, she walked further and further away looking for any possible signs of a creature. Connor looked over to Becker as he scouted the area for creatures. Surely, he was more Abby's type? He was very much the typical 'Action Man', good looks and muscles included.

Connor sighed and bent down to continue his work.

Ashley went in a different direction, listening for sounds and noises.

Suddenly, Connor heard a low growl behind him. He paled and wondered what it was. Turning around slowly he came face to face with a fierce wolf.

The wolf growled at him, the wolf was black all over and it looked very menacing, and he was looking and growling at Connor. He looked into the creature's eyes and wondered if this was his brother or father, but he had seen them in wolf form before and this particular wolf was too intimidating to be either of them. He looked again and he saw the wolf's true form. It wasn't his father, or brother, he saw a stranger in the creature's eyes.

"Abby! Becker! Ash...!" He shouted, but they were too far away to hear him.

He began to shake, they had taken the guns, and he didn't have one to hand. All he had was the anomaly-locking device.

The wolf lunged at him, knocking him to the ground. Connor struggled against the animal, his hands reaching for anything to use as a weapon. Finally, his fingers curled around the keyboard. Pulling it closer he managed to get a grip on the hard object, and holding it, he swung it across him, knocking the creature away from him.

The wolf gave a very loud yelp, he growled at snapped at Connor, biting him on the arm. This time Connor screamed. He swung the keyboard at him repeatedly until the animal let go of his arm, falling at his feet unconscious.

He could not have killed the creature even if he wanted to. Even if he had a gun in his hand, he would not have been able to do it.

He sank to the ground, and looked around at the anomaly. At least he had managed to lock it into a little glowing orb. Gasping for breath, he collapsed completely, fainting.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Becker heard an animal yelp, and then he heard something that sounded like Connor yelling, he sounded as if he was in pain. He tried speaking into his communication unit. Connor didn't answer. Realising that communication links were down, he quickly dialled Abby's mobile number.

"Damn! No signal!" He turned around; he needed to find the others. He began to run back towards the anomaly.

Becker was fast and he reached the anomaly in record time. He looked around for Connor, but all he saw was two wolves. One completely black and the other a silvery grey, unconscious on the ground, the anomaly-locking device lay between them and there was no sign of Connor. Abby and Ash reached his side moments later.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Abby had heard the sounds too, the yelp from an animal. The scream of someone in pain, and she hoped that no one was hurt. She began to head back towards the anomaly too.

"Where's Connor?" She had been running and she was gasping for breath. Danny and Sarah joined them.

"Well the anomaly is locked, but no sign of him, wonder where he's disappeared to?" Becker replied getting annoyed that Connor had left the device lying between the animals.

Abby leaned down between the animals. The silvery one had a nasty gash on one of its front legs. The other looked as if it had just been knocked out.

"There aren't any wolves in the New Forest are there?" Danny questioned.

Abby shook her head in reply.

Sarah was about to open the anomaly so that Becker and Danny could send the wolves back to their own time, when it flickered and closed. She noticed the clothing that lay nearby, they looked familiar.

"Abby?" She picked up the blue hoodie, that Connor had been wearing that morning, and his ring, showing them to Abby.

"So where's Connor?"

The injured animal lay between them it let out some sort of whimper as it came round. It sat up, and is seemed quite docile. It looked at Abby and let out a small whimper. For once Abby could not hear it, and it seemed strange that she could not hear its thoughts.

It raised its injured paw and stared at it. Abby observed the animal somehow knowing something peculiar was going on.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Connor came round and blinking, he sat up. He felt weird, something wasn't right. He looked into Abby's gorgeous blue eyes and felt calmer. Then he felt the searing pain shoot through his arm. Lifting his hand up, he looked at it...

This wasn't right; his hand shouldn't look like this!

It was all furry and didn't look like his hand at all!

It looked like a dog's paw. He looked up at Abby and tried to say something, but all that came out was a pitiful whine. This wasn't right, he needed to say something to Abby and fast, he needed to tell the team who he really was. He barked.

He looked across to Ash, surely he could tell. He was his brother! He cocked his head to one side and whimpered.

Sarah piped up. "Danny, look at this! It is Connor's!"  
Danny's mouth fell open. Becker, who had cocked his gun aiming it at the animal, looked at the wolf that cautiously approached Abby as she knelt on the ground. It put its injured paw on her shoulder, whining.

He was about to fire when Ash stopped him.

He knelt down to the creature's level. "Connor?"

The wolf whimpered again, nodding its head.

"It is Connor!" Ash murmured, the wolf looked into his eyes, and he felt the connection that came with having Connor at his side. Suddenly he felt an urge to change, to help his brother, to be with him in his wolf form, but he knew he shouldn't, not in front of the others. He knelt down close to him and rubbed his fur in a calming fashion.

"But how; how could this have happened?" Danny spoke incredulously.

Ash knew what was going on, his transformation had happened in much the same way. A dog bite had been the start of his metamorphosis. He remembered the feeling of helplessness, and he remembered that he had run off to find his father. The only person he knew that could help.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Connor limped behind Abby as she took him back to the SUV. He pulled himself up to put his front paws onto the windows and looked at the reflection of himself in the paintwork and glass of the shiny vehicle. He sniffed and whimpered at the sight of himself, the silvery grey fur on his body, his snout, his eyes and ears. Sadly, he moved away from the car and his awful reflection, standing was becoming painful and he found walking on all fours more comfortable, even if he had been bitten on his front leg and needed medical attention. Finding a first aid kit, Abby bandaged him up.

He remembered Pete telling him that this could happen, and now he didn't know how to change back. Maybe his brother could help; but Ash was unlikely to do anything whilst the rest of the team were around.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Slowly, the black wolf came round. He came bounding across towards Connor, with the intention of hurting him even more. Connor heard him coming, saw him, smelled his anger, and tried to stop him from hurting Abby. If that wolf hurt her, he would never forgive himself. He stood in front of Abby and he growled at his opponent. He wasn't sure where the sound came from but it was low and guttural, he growled menacingly through his teeth and let out an almighty bark.

The wolf stared at him and deep inside knew he was serious, heard his throaty growl and prepared to fight.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Becker had been helping Sarah, and he had needed to put his rifle down. Ash and Becker both aimed at the growling creature. Becker was about to shoot the animal, when Connor leapt at the dog. There was a tussle and all that they could see in the darkness was a mass of fur. If he pulled the trigger now he could accidentally hurt Connor.

Connor used the only part of his anatomy which could hurt the animal - his teeth. He took a huge bite out of the wolf's neck. He tasted the animal's blood and it sent a surge of adrenaline through his abnormal body. It was almost as if the metallic taste of the animal's blood was like a massive sugar rush. He thrashed his head back and forth, making the creature yelp in pain. He heard a voice...

"Connor...! Connor Stop!" He let go of his adversary, who ran off towards the woods, only to be felled by a shot from Ash's gun. Turning to look at the person shouting, he saw Abby, kneeling on the ground, tears running down her face.

Licking around his jowls, to rid himself of excess blood, carefully he approached her. Hopefully Becker would not shoot him. He looked across to the soldier before venturing closer.

He tried to tell Becker that he meant no harm, that not just Abby, but everyone was safe and that he really wasn't going to hurt anyone. The look in his eyes must have shown calmness that the soldier seemed to understand for he stepped back, lowering his gun, nodding briefly so that he could approach Abby.

Connor took this as a positive sign and slowly he limped into Abby's outstretched arms. He could feel the way she rubbed him. Once again, the pain radiated in his upper arm, and he let out a whine. He felt her as she hugged him, leaning down to kiss him.

Tears still flowed from her eyes, and although he wanted to wipe them away with his hand, he couldn't. He wanted to touch her, be able to put his arms around her and tell her that everything was going to be OK, but he couldn't.

He hung his head dejectedly, feeling even more miserable than before.

He still couldn't understand what had happened, why he was behaving strangely, why he was able to lick his nose with his tongue...? Eeeuuww! Had he just? He rubbed his nose with the back of his furry paw and then wished he hadn't, as the loose fur stuck to his nostrils and made him sneeze.

Looking into Abby's eyes, he put a grubby paw on each shoulder, and began to lick her face gently, washing away the salty residue on her face.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Abby had felt calmer when she realised that the beautiful, silvery, grey wolf was Connor; the creature in front of her was too docile to be a proper wolf. She looked at him lovingly, and wondered what had caused this particular reaction to a wolf bite. People didn't just change into wolves because they'd been bitten by one.

She had seen the way the other wolf had looked at her, growling threateningly. Normally she would not have been terrified of the action, but today was different. Today the wolf's low guttural sounds had shaken her, shaken her right from the top of her head, down through her very core, all the way down to the tips of her toes.

She had watched the way Connor had leapt at the animal, saving her life, and she felt immense gratitude.  
She knew now that she loved him. She would always love him, and she wished she could kiss him properly. Instead, she pressed kisses into his fur just above his nose, to the side where his cheek would have been, then the other side. She pulled back for a moment to look at his new form and it was then that she noticed the liquid running from his eyes.

"Oh Conn... Come here..." She pulled him closer for another hug. "You saved my life... Thank you." She whispered into his ear.

Becker left a few soldiers in charge and then he, Danny, and Abby along with Connor all clamboured into a SUV, Sarah climbed in with Ash for the drive back to the ARC.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Arriving back at the ARC, Connor stayed close to Abby. He really didn't want to go far from her at all. He felt safe by her side, normal even, if it wasn't for his unusual appearance.

"Goodness gracious! Connor's brought back another pet!" Lester grimaced as he walked out of his office to meet the team.

"That's not a pet!" Ash replied to Lester's inappropriate sarcasm. "That _IS_ Connor!"

"What?" Lester's mouth fell open. He could not believe what he had just been told.

He pointed to the wolf in front of him.

"That is Connor?"

Ash nodded grimly.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Now that he was back at the ARC, Ash pulled out his mobile phone.

"Pete...? It's Ash... Yes, it's about Connor... it's happened..." Ash listened to his father.

"OK, be there in a moment."

Ash turned to Lester.

"We've got to go, I know someone who can help him." He turned to Connor and knelt at his side. "Come on, let's go, and see Pete!"

"Wait, I'm coming too." Abby interjected.

"But..." Ash protested.

"No buts, if it concerns Connor, I'm coming too!" Ash took Connor and Abby to his flat, where Pete was waiting.

He asked Abby to wait in the car as he took Connor up. Reluctantly she agreed.

"Connor!" Pete called as they went in. He knelt down to his level.

"Hey," Pete soothed Connor as he placed his abnormal head on his shoulder.

"It's going to be OK." He rubbed Connors back, neck and head. He was trying to feel for something, and it was then that he noticed.

"Connor, where's your ring?"

Pete looked up to Ash, "He's lost his ring, _and we_ need to find it! Without it, he stays a wolf, and the longer he remains like this, the harder it will be to change him back."

Ash remembered seeing Connor's clothing and the ring at the site of the anomaly, but he didn't know where his things had gone.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Pete and Ash rushed back down to the car.

"Who's the blonde?" Pete whispered in Ash's ear before getting in.

"I'll introduce you."

Connor jumped in the back with Abby. He lay down on the seat with his head on his forearms, then as Abby stroked him he nudged closer, eventually resting his head on her lap. It almost seemed as if she preferred him in his wolf form.

"Pete, meet Abby Maitland, Abby this is Pete Armstrong. Our Dad!" Abby smiled politely and shook his hand.

Pete watched as she stroked Connor behind the ears.

"So... Are you Connor's girlfriend?" He asked, trying to be innocent.

"Oh no, Connor's not my boyfriend. We just work together."

Connor felt hurt, she could have made it sound a little bit better, but no, she sounded as if it was the last thing she wanted. He moved his head out of her lap and sat up as best as he could. This body was taking some getting used to.

They arrived back at the anomaly site and both Pete and Ash rushed to where the Anomaly Locking device had been. Bothe men knelt down on the ground clearly looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" Abby shouted, her hands on her hips, Connor sitting at her side.

"The ring! Connor's ring!" Pete shouted back not looking round.

"You mean this?" She pulled something from the back pocket of her jeans.

Pete and Ash exchanged glances, and then turned to look at Abby. She stood with one hand up holding something on a leather thong, something that glinted in the darkness.

Pete stood up and raced over to her.

"Yes, yes, yes! This is it - exactly what we were looking for!" He grinned at Abby. Bending down he placed the strip of leather around Connor's neck.

Connor looked up at Abby as she looked down at him. He sniffed the air; he could smell her perfume, the scent was heady and he caught a whiff of something else, a scent he wasn't sure what it was, it smelled like... Love.

Carefully he pawed at her and pulled himself up to put one paw on each shoulder, he wanted to hold her so badly, to be able to kiss her, hold her tight. He wanted to be back in his human form so that he could kiss her and tell her how much he loved her. He felt Abby press kisses into the side of his neck once more.

Then something strange happened, she was no longer kissing fur, the fur became shorter and shorter, and then she was kissing Connor's face. She would have kissed him properly if Pete had not shouted.

"Connor...!" Pete called; he pointed at Connor indicating something, it was then that he looked down. All his clothes had been ripped and torn, and not a stitch of clothing could be seen on the young man.

Pete and Ash looked away.

"You might need this!" He took off his jacket and gave it to his naked son. Connor was back.

"What happened anyway?" He asked looking around him; he blinked trying to remember what had just happened.

"You have this nasty bite on your arm. The wolf must have bitten you causing you to change." Ash explained.

"I became a werewolf?" Connor asked incredulously.

Pete nodded. "Can you remember any of it?"

"No." He shook his head.

"What made me change back?"

"The ring, you obviously wanted to return to your human body, and you have the Armstrong genes, you may change again, and not just when the lunar cycle returns to a full moon or at night."

"So this will affect me for the rest of my life?"

"Yes, unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Legend has it that three maidens with dark hair will help us break the curse. My key is called Morgana," He paused and looked at Abby. She didn't have dark hair at all; in fact her blonde hair seemed almost too white to be natural. It was then he looked closer, he could faintly see Abby's roots. She wasn't blonde at all; she was a brunette, just as he hoped she'd be. "All we have to do now is find the last and final key..."

"What makes you think I'm Connor's so called key? There's nothing special about me. It can't be me, it just can't!"

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

_So will Connor have to live the rest of his life watching the phases of the moon?_

_Is Abby his so called Key?_

_Please remember, reviews are love and they help feed the ever hungry muse._


	9. Chapter 9

_**The Curse**_

_A/N__: Morgana, and Merlin belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

___Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!_

_I feel obliged to point out that iEvenstarEstel has also written a Werewolf!Connor story. Don't forget to read hers too, she just completed and posted hers whilst I was still writing mine. I have no idea who thought of it first, but want to point out that in no way did I intend to copy/plagerise her awesome work. You can find it if you go over to the LiveJournal Website and search for her author tag. (No Underage readers please.)_

* * *

**_Chapter 9_**

**_Part II_**

The scientist in Sarah refused to let her believe that Connor could be changed into a wolf so readily. She was intrigued by his speedy reaction to a wolf bite, and knowing that Becker and Connor were friends, pulled the soldier to one side as he passed by her office.

"What's going on here? You seem to be getting on with Connor well; can you tell me what's going on?" Looking around him furtively, Becker guided her back to her desk.

Becker had been informed about the story and, whispering, he narrated to her, everything he knew. How he had followed them one night, to the dilapidated mansion that magically reappeared. He tried to explain how Cutter and Jenny were still alive, and knowing that she did not believe him, begged her to do some research into their family background. They sat at her computer console and began to investigate.

It was not long before Sarah was able to find details about the Cuttershall family curse. She even found a family portrait that had been painted in that particular era. She gasped as she recognised faces; she sat and pointed to Nick Cutter, Jenny, Connor's father – Pete and one face in particular, Connor, and the other replica had to be Ashley.

Sarah couldn't believe what she was seeing, and she glanced across to Becker who pointed to Ryan and Stephen.

"We need to tell Lester and Danny about what we know." Sarah whispered as Connor walked past her office.

"Unless they're already involved too..." Becker interjected; a grim look on his face.

Becker had seen everything first hand and was prepared for the news. However, his superiors, if they weren't involved, might just need a little bit more time.

Becker was ready to call Danny when the man in question called him on his mobile, he was about to break into the ARC and wanted Becker to time him.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

The anomaly alert was once more in the Forest of Dean, this particular anomaly, whilst it led to separate eras, it materialised frequently, and nearly always meant a creature incursion. Connor provided the team with the location and they all set off. Danny took a car with Connor and Abby; Becker took another car with Ash and Sarah.

Arriving at the anomaly, they were surprised to see the unusual colouring, it was green in colour, and it was flickering, already showing signs of getting weaker. Connor was astounded, he had never seen an anomaly any other colour before and the sight astounded him. He wondered if it would behave in the same way as the other anomalies they had encountered.

"Lock it...! NOW...!" Becker shouted aiming his gun at the anomaly should a creature come wandering through.

"No wait ... I've never seen a green one before, what if it's not like the others? What if the locking mechanism won't work on it? Just hold on, I want to see if it closes on its own or if it stays open." Connor persuaded Becker to hold off for a moment and they watched the anomaly.

Sounds filtered through the green haze, and Becker speculated why he could hear so much noise, it sounded as if it was a war zone on the other side, and he wondered if the enemy to a future war torn country had found the secrets behind the anomalies and had tried to harness their power.

The team was amazed to see an albino peacock wander through the anomaly. Connor, Becker and Ash had guns raised poised to shoot, but seeing the beautiful creature, they held off.

"Something else is coming through..." Abby whispered.

They all gasped when a wolf came limping through, blood seeped through its fur down its front leg.

Ashley crouched down and whistled in a low tone, attracting the attention of the animal. The animal hobbled over on three legs, sadness and pain in its amber coloured eyes. Looking into the creature's eyes, he gasped. He looked up at Connor and raised his eyebrows, could the wolf be...? A silent communication passed between the two of them.

Slowly he reached out to stroke the animal, careful as so not to alarm it. Then fumbling around the thick grey fur on its neck he found the one object which both excited and alarmed him... A ring hanging from a leather thong, the copy of which adorned his and Connor's necks; the ring itself was solid proof that the wolf was their father.

Meanwhile Abby was drawn to the peacock; she had seen drops of blood on the floor and she became worried. She could tell that the animal was wary, and as Abby approached, it fanned its tail in warning.

Abby stood admiring the creature when she noticed where the blood was coming from. It dripped from underneath the peacock's body, and it was clear that whatever was on the other side of the unusual anomaly had been so dangerous and menacing, that it had hurt the beautiful and placid animal.

Becker took aim with his gun, keeping an eye on the anomaly as it flickered and blinked out of existence.

The team were shocked and astounded when the peacock fell to the ground, changing into a beautiful long, dark, haired woman wearing a simple white dress. She clutched at her stomach her breathing shallow and laboured as the blood seeped across the clean dress.

"Water... Water... Water..." She breathed.

Ash provided her with a bottle that he carried with him.

"Pull out ... One of the hairs on my head... Put it inside." She gasped for air.

Ash complied, pulling a hair and winding it up before popping it into the open bottle, bemused as to the reason why she would want him contaminate the water in such a way.

She sat up wincing, then holding the bottle in her hands; she chanted something underneath her breath. The bottle glowed golden in colour for a moment before becoming clear once more. It seemed almost magical, almost unreal, and surprised glances were exchanged between everyone.

They continued to watch as the woman drank the water; the effects soon became clear. Her breathing returned to normal and she stopped bleeding, her wounds seem to knit together and disappear.

The wolf limped over to the woman and began to lick her. She poured the water over the wolf's wounds, causing it to whimper and transform too, and Pete appeared. He clutched at his arm, wincing, the woman poured more of the now magical water onto his wound, and again the wound healed itself and disappeared.

Danny stood there his mouth gaping wide open, Sarah looked confused, as did Abby, she had seen Connor change in this manner once before, but this was different.

Becker was the only one who didn't look surprised. He knew about the Cuttershall family curse, and seen Ash in his wolf form once before, even met Pete, and so he wasn't surprised when Connor and Ash both shouted "Dad!"

"What happened through there, dad?" Connor questioned pointing in the direction of the non-existent anomaly.

"Christina happened. She was there with a dragon! She's trying to stop us, trying all she can to stop us focusing on our task." Pete stood up indicating to his sons that they should help the young lady behind him. He rubbed his joints and flexed his muscles.

"What's going on here boys?" Danny enquired, thoroughly bemused.

Pete looked up at both of his sons, and they exchanged glances.

"I'm Ashley and Connor's father. You all know how they were split up when they were very young, but not all of you know that our family suffers from a curse that makes us turn into werewolves."

"All three of you can change into wolves, you, Ash and Connor?" Danny stepped forward.

Pete nodded.

"You know that text that Sarah found a few weeks ago?" Ash interjected. "All of it is true; we're destined to spend the rest of our lives as werewolves unless the curse is broken."

Suddenly everything began to make sense to Danny and Sarah. Why Connor had begun acting differently, why Abby was so on edge, why the four of the leading experts had come together at the beginning of the ARC.

Ash and Connor stood behind them, knowing what their colleagues were thinking. The only person, who knew about the curse and its effects, was Becker.

"Danny ... I'm really sorry ... I should have told you, but..." Ash began.

"But what...?" Danny snapped, angry that his friend had not told him any of this before, they had known each other for years, and he was furious that Ashley had not trusted him enough to tell him the truth.

"If I had told you about my family history, would you have believed me? Would you have worked as closely as you did with me in the Met? Or would you have thought of me as some sort of freak?" Ashley questioned solemnly.

Danny and Sarah exchanged glances, Ash was right; there was no way they would have believed such an outrageous story. They would have stayed away from him thinking that he was some sort of weirdo.

"Are we still mates?" He gazed sadly at Danny.

Danny pondered for a moment, the lies and deceit from Ash had hurt him, and no doubt Sarah too, but such a story was too fantastic to be untrue. He had even seen Connor in his wolf from, and such a tale being made public would have been disastrous for Ash and his family. He gave a brief smile, and nodded. Of course he would, he had known Ash for a very long time, the man had saved his neck on more than one occasion, and just because they had discovered the truth behind his heritage recently, it didn't mean they he was any different than a month ago.

"So how do you break this curse?" Danny asked.

"That's where Morgana comes in," Pete turned to the woman behind him. "She is my key, now all we have to do is find the others."

"Keys...?" Sarah questioned.

"Yes, each of us has a key-person to help us, someone magical, most probably a witch and she will help us break our curse."

"But none of us are magical, so it can't be one of us." Sarah spoke up.

"This portal was deliberately opened to focus on one of the keys; either Connor or Ashley, it is definitely one or both of the women here." The woman in a white dress spoke, indicating Sarah and Abby, her injuries completely healed; the stain on her dress miraculously gone. "Since Abby doesn't quite believe that she is a key, we decided to try again."

"Who are you?" Abby enquired, walking to one side away from the rest of the team. She had a feeling they were referring to her, but she wasn't sure that her weird abilities qualified her as being a witch or magical, and she would rather not be classified as such, however the main reason she held back from accepting she was Connor's partner, was that she had not been able to hear him in his wolf figure.

"My name is Morgana, I am a modern day witch, and I am Peter's key." She smiled at Abby.

"How do you know if you're a key-person?" Sarah enquired.

"Legend has it that three maidens will help us break the curse." She paused and looked at Abby, and then turned to look at Sarah. Either or both women could be the individual they were looking for. "One of you is definitely a key person."

At that exact moment the anomaly detector started bleeping and an anomaly opened directly behind Abby.

This one was black in colour and Connor was intrigued as to why the anomalies were now appearing in different colours. What did they mean?

But what happened next made Connor's heart miss a beat.

"ABBY!" He screamed as she was pulled through the anomaly backwards.

Without thinking, he ran behind her through the anomaly, frantically searching for her. Moments later Danny, Pete, Ash, and Morgana followed him through.

"How will we find her?" Connor looked around him, the anomaly had led them to a secluded beach, sand under his feet, cliffs lined the golden sand to one side and the clear water stretched out on the other side. The horizon was clear and they had a wonderful view of the sun. The sun was low in the sky, indicating sunset. They would not have many hours of daylight left.

"Smell," Pete answered.

"Let me do this. I know," Connor closed his glowing eyes and willed his body to change. Soon he found himself growing fur and changing. He breathed in deeply, focusing on Abby's aroma, for a weird unknown reason, whenever he was near Abby, she smelled delicious, like Grandma's mouth watering apple crumble. Soon his nostrils picked up her familiar scent and he bounded across to find her.

Pete and Ash both changed into wolves as well and followed Connor, speeding up to catch up with him. They ran through the sand following Connor who could smell Abby's fragrant aroma.

Danny instructed Sarah to stay behind and monitor the anomaly; he picked up the discarded clothes and put them in his backpack. Somehow he knew that Connor would need them later.

Morgana realised that if they were going to help them find Abby, they would need some form of transport, she looked at them.

"I don't normally do this, but this once I will let you ride me." Glancing at Becker she muttered a spell. "You, Becker will be able to run like the wind!" With that, she changed into a horse and Danny leapt onto her strong back.

They raced through the surf. Connor could smell Abby, he was sure of it. In the distance, he could see a dark haired woman, sitting upon a black horse, racing away towards a castle that stood in the distance. She had Abby, unconscious and lifeless slung across her horse.

Morgana saw the horse, and the horrid witch called Christina. She picked up speed and raced harder, she recited a spell in her head making her run even faster. Soon she was alongside the horrid witch.

Danny couldn't believe his eyes. He had never imagined Christine Johnson as a witch, never seen Becker run like the wind, but then he had never seen his long-time friend Ash as a wolf either, and all these stories were beginning to make his head spin. He leaned across and tried to pull himself across. Christina muttered a spell and aimed at Danny, he ducked as the spell missed him. He put all his weight behind him and leapt across, pulling Christina and Abby off the horse and down to the ground.

Connor in his wolf form leapt upon Christina, having caught up to them. He growled and bared his teeth.

"Get away from me, you brute!" Christina screamed.

Connor looked across to Abby's unconscious figure, his anger grew, and he lunged at the witch, But Christina was too fast, with a muttered incantation she sent Connor flying backwards through the air to land in an undignified heap on the floor.

Christina's horse, stopped and he changed back into his human form. Danny gaped - Captain Wilder!

Ash saw Wilder change and he leapt forward biting the man's arm.

Christina knew she was fighting a losing battle and she opened another black anomaly. She grabbed Abby's arm, and ran through dragging a still unconscious Abby behind her, closing the portal once Wilder had joined her.

Connor sat back on his haunches and howled in despair. He had lost Abby! The one person in his life, who made him feel like himself, grounded him, and now she was gone. He lay down, miserably, one paw on top of the other, and rested his head upon them; tears welled up in his eyes, and dripped slowly down his snout.

Pete changed back and crouched down next to Connor, Ash changed back too and smiled when he realised he had managed to keep his clothes on. He knelt down next to Connor and rubbed his head and back.

"Come on Connor, like I told you, you need to want to change, otherwise it's not going to happen." Pete advised.

Although Pete and Ash had managed to change back to their human form quickly, they had more experience, Connor still struggling with the loss of Abby, had not managed to control his animal instinct and he remained in his werewolf form for longer. With anguish in his heart, he concentrated like his father told him, the ring glowed golden, his brown irises flashed purple for a moment, and then slowly he began to change.

Morgana turned away as Connor changed back into his human body. He donned the clothes that Danny had brought with him. Slowly, dejected, they walked back to the anomaly and present day.

Sarah ran up and joined them as they walked back through.

Morgana glanced at Sarah, and then at Pete, an unspoken communication, and she whispered an incantation.

Nothing happened.

"Well, we can be sure that the Key-Person is not this young lady," she angled her head towards Sarah.

"So she must have been after Abby." Pete spoke as he turned towards where the anomaly had just been. "She's the key, Connors's key?"

Morgana nodded.

"I don't understand all this?" Danny questioned. "Connor and Ash changing at the drop of a hat, Abby, she's a key, key to what? Will someone explain to me _WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?"_

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Abby's head hurt, she rubbed the sore spot at the back of her head as she came round. She pushed herself up from the unlevel rocky floor and blinked. In the darkness surrounding her, she could not see very far. From her location she deduced that where ever she was, it was somewhere cold, and damp.

In the distance she saw a glimmer of light, and, with her arms outstretched, she began walking towards it. Abby froze as she heard something scuffling in the dark. She shrank to the floor as she heard a roar. Whatever it was, sounded large... Very large.

Abby wasn't one to get scared very easily, and stayed low and listened to whatever was in the darkness with her. A sound echoed throughout the void.

"Hello! Is anybody there?" She called.

She closed her eyes, listening. There it was again, the distinct sound of someone moaning.

There was another roar in reply and in the distance a fire raged. Suddenly Abby was able to see clearly around her, and she gasped in horror. Discovering that she was in a deep underground cave, crouched on a ledge the length of a small car, and a few metres away from her, with its body deep under the ledge was a very large dragon.

The fire disappeared as the dragon closed its mouth and began to relax. It had not seen her and Abby wondered what to do next. The dragon had sounded as if it was angry and she didn't want to be around it for too much longer. She tried to listen out for its voice; she usually heard many animals and she wondered if she tried hard enough, maybe she could hear it.

First of all it would help if she could see where she was going. She scrambled around on the floor trying to find anything she could use to set alight. Her fingers curled around a long stick it felt comfortable to hold and if she could find the end, maybe she could set it alight. Feeling the top of the stick she winced, trust her to find a bone in the darkness. She tore a strip from her t-shirt and wound it around the bone.

"Hello?" She called out again. And when the creature roared and blew fire she used the flame to set the cloth attached to the bone, alight.

Now that she could see, she sighed and wondered if Connor would come looking for her. She hoped that it would be Connor, and not Danny or Becker. She had begun to like him a lot more now and she wondered if she would ever get a chance to see him again. She wanted to tell him how much he meant to her, how much she loved him.

She gazed across at the dragon in front of her and looked carefully. Now that the torch was lit the dragon noticed her and turned towards her. Abby gulped and edged backwards.

The dragon seemed to back away from the fire in her hands and Abby looked around her.

She heard a faint "Please don't hurt me...!" and immediately looked around to see who had spoken.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

In the meantime, the handheld anomaly detectors began bleeping, signalling that another anomaly had opened up, once more at Christine's head quarters.

Pete could not help but jump right in. The alpha male in his blood refused to let him take orders from Danny, and he told the team leader that they needed to split up in order to complete their mission.

He instructed the Danny, Becker and Sarah to check out the anomaly, whilst, he, Morgana, Ashley and Connor would set out trying to find Abby.

Morgana, focused on Connor's key once more, took a small bead from her necklace; and throwing it to the ground in front of them, opened up a green anomaly and stepped through. Pete, Ash and Danny joined her.

"When you open anomalies, are they always this colour?" Connor marvelled at the way the green shards seemed to sparkle in the air, a green haze surrounding them.

Morgana smiled, "Not always, some vary in colour."

"Well, where do we start looking?" Pete questioned.

Connor looked around, "Maybe the spooky looking castle, that looks like it belongs in a creepy Scooby-Doo movie is a giveaway."

He angled his head towards the hill and the rickety looking fortress that looked as if it had seen better days, sat on an edge of a precipice, all that was missing was the storm cloud and the bats flying around.

Changing into a wolf once more, Connor sniffed around trying to find Abby's scent. He turned and barked at the others to follow and then he scampered off in the direction the scent was coming from.

Abby's aroma led them through dense green foliage, brambles grew all around and somehow Connor managed to find a path that led into a cave.

Suddenly he heard a voice...

"Connor... Is that you? Somebody...! Anybody...! Help me...! Please...!" A man's voice rang out in the darkness.

He turned to Pete who had brought his clothes. Willing his body to change back into his human form he dressed and listened again, he was sure he had heard a voice...

"This way..." Connor ran off at a tangent arriving in a room under the castle.

He gasped when he saw Abby's brother tied up in a corner. Running over, he untied the young man and questioned him, asking if he had seen Abby.

"They took her, over there, in the cave with the green dragon! You've got to hurry; the dragon will eat her for sure!" Jack gasped and together, he and Connor went off in search for Abby.

In the distance he could see some light; Connor heard Abby's voice and she seemed to be talking to someone.

"Who are you?" Abby was speaking to an auburn haired woman, who lay on the ground, her once white clothes, now tainted, tattered and torn.

Abby heard Connor as he ran towards her, briefly hugging each other, she indicated the younger woman who had drifted once more into unconsciousness.

"We've got to help her; we can't just leave her here for the dragon to eat."

Morgana knew that she would not be able to open one of her anomalies here under the castle, and so she persuaded Pete to carry the woman. They were not about to leave her behind.

Abby blinked as Connor approached her, she heard a faint, "Don't leave me here...!" and assumed that the few delirious words had come from the young woman in Pete's arms.

Connor walked up to Abby and checked her for injuries. Satisfied that she was not hurt he put his arm around her they walked through the catacombs underneath the castle. Once or twice they heard the roar from the dragon that they left behind.

Abby hugged her brother, and wondered why Christine would kidnap him too? Carefully the group made their way, sticking to the shadows created by the twilight and away from the castle, Ashley bringing up the rear with his gun ready, just in case they were followed, once they were at a suitable distance, Morgana took a small bead from her necklace, and throwing it to the ground in front of them, opened an anomaly and they all stepped through.

No sooner were they through the glowing green portal, then the young woman moaned in slumber.

"Do ... Not ... Trust ... Steven's ... Son! Do ... Not ... Trust ... Steven's ... Son! Do ... Not ... Trust ... Steven's ... Son!" She gasped for breath, her breathing shallow, and she lost consciousness once more.

Connor, Ash, and Pete exchanged glances. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Stephen didn't have any offspring, not that they knew of anyway.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Arriving at the old ruins that had once been home to the Cuttershall family, Abby was able to see for herself what Connor had been talking about. Seeing the ruins change before her eyes, made her step back in awe, then as Connor escorted her inside she was introduced to the Cuttershall family.

Cutter and Claudia immediately recognised the young woman. "Jessica!" they shouted as they ran towards her and instructed their servants to take her upstairs.

Abby was surprised to see Cutter, Stephen too, and also when she saw the woman she thought of as Jenny tending to the stranger's injuries. Emotion overcame her, and unshed tears stung her eyes. Everything became too much for her and she ran from the building, tears rolling down her face.

Connor had told her about his strange meetings with Cutter but she had not believed him.

Morgana was about to follow her but was stopped by Cutter.

"Not you," he turned to Connor. "You love her don't you?" Connor nodded. "Go, explain to her what this means, how much she means to you. She's your key, and there's no doubt about that."

Connor followed Abby, and he found her outside the huge mansion, she stood underneath a tree facing a large empty meadow.

"Abby..." He called, breathing in deeply he could smell apples once more. Carefully he approached her. "Abby I've wanted to tell you for a while now... I... I want ..." He huffed, words escaped him, and instead he held his arms out.

Abby looked back at him, his outstretched arms a warm welcome from the confused feelings she was experiencing. She buried her head in his chest, sobbing. No longer knowing what was true about the strange world in which she lived, so many things didn't make sense.

She had seen a dragon change into a human being, seen Morgana perform magic, she had seen dead people come to life. Her own abilities confounded her too, just how did she fit into this weird jigsaw puzzle?

Everyone kept telling her that she was Connor's key person, she didn't want to believe it so blindly, but something deep inside her told her that she should. She recalled a conversation she'd once had with Jenny.

_"Abby... Have you ever ... Been ... Attracted to somebody ... You don't even like?" Jenny had asked her._

_Her reply then had been, "I fall for the wrong men all the time, but one thing I do know... If you're interested, don't wait for the man to make the first move, because you could die of old age before anything happens."_

_"Going to take your own advice?"_

_"Thinking about it..."_

Had been her reply, and maybe she should think about it some more...

Connor's strong arms around her reassured her that all would be resolved; there was something about being in Connor's arms that seemed to be just ... just right.

She looked up into his eyes, and for the first time she noticed how impossibly perfect they were. His imperfect teeth in contrast to the beautiful chocolaty brown irises melted her heart, and the dimple that showed when he smiled just like he was at the moment, and she knew she would always love him.

Right now the fact that she was his "Key" didn't sound ridiculous at all. She had been kidnapped by Christine, and without hesitation Connor had followed her, and in this moment she realised that he would follow her to the ends of the earth just to be with her. She knew that no matter where she was, Connor would be there, right by her side.

They belonged together, for all eternity, and realising this she closed her eyes, leaned forward and gently kissed him. Warmth spread through her, starting with her lips, to the backs of her eyes to the tips of her ears, and through the rest of her body.

Laying her head back against his chest she heard him sigh, and listened to the calming rhythmical beating of his heart. Then she heard something else. It was very faint, but she was sure she heard him. _'I love you Abby.'_

"What was that?" She asked, pulling back a little to look into his eyes.

"Nothing, - I - I didn't say anything." Connor stuttered; bewildered at the way her eyes flashed amber, orange and red for a moment.

"But I was sure that I heard you say..."

_"That I love you? Surely I couldn't have said that out loud?"_

She watched as he shook his head; his unmoving lips, his questioning eyes, and his posture all seemed to say that he hadn't spoken, yet she had clearly heard him.

She backed away from him, were her weird abilities changing? Could she now hear people too?

Looking around her, she heard two ravens arguing over a scrap of bread, she heard a squirrel trying to find a good hiding place for his nuts, she heard a mouse scampering through the grass, afraid of being caught by a cat that was chasing him, and she heard the cat searching for its prey.

Normally she could block out the noise, but the sound which was overwhelming was the racket of Connor's thoughts.

The cacophony of sounds was too much, and she clamped her hands over her ears trying to block out the myriad of noise in her head. Abby and Connor were alone outside the mansion, but the screeching voices of all the animals and Connor's voice too were just too much.

"No!" She screamed as she began to hyperventilate, her head began to spin, and she collapsed, a pair of strong arms catching her before she fell to the ground.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Christine was in her bedroom, asleep when her phone rang. She blinked, and stretched before reaching for the bright red receiver by the side of her bed.

"Yes... Oh it's you... What news do you have?" She spoke irritated by the disturbance to her slumber.

"Captain Becker you say?" She listened as the person on the other end continued. "Really...? Well we will have to do something about that! Leave it to me; I will see to it that Captain Becker is taken out of action!" She smiled widely as she thought of what she would do to the handsome Captain.

"Yes... I realised that the Fairy Princess Jessica was taken from my prison... Kill her, - Before she has a chance to tell anyone!" She paused as she listened to her caller. "Well, if you can't kill her, ensure that she never speaks to anyone ever again – _Cut out her tongue!"_ Christina huffed.

"What are they planning to do next?" She pursed her lips into a thin line; unhappy with what she was heard as her informant told her of Cutter's plans. "Call me when the fairy has been dealt with!"

Grimacing she replaced the receiver. Walking over to her window she summoned her favourite servant. "Wilder! Come here my pet..."

The sound of flapping wings could be heard and a raven hopped through the window.

"Are you better my dear...?" She crooned and placed him on the floor.

Suddenly the raven began to grow and change, he morphed into the man who stood constantly by her side.

"Oh that's better..." Wilder rolled his shoulders, trying to ease the pain where Danny had shot him. "You called Ma'am..."

"Have you been watching like I asked?"

"Yes ma'am, they fell for it, they took the young lad Jack with them." Wilder informed her.

_"Yes I know that!" _she snapped._ "Tell me something I don't know!"_

"So sorry ma'am, that's all I know, they took the young lad Jack and the fairy." Wilder looked down at the floor, ashamed that the one piece of news he brought, was old news to his mistress.

"And Ryan...? What about him?"

Wilder smiled. "They left him behind, they didn't recognise him."

"Good. Wilder ... You know Captain Becker don't you?"

"Yes ... We went to Sandhurst together, along with Captain Ryan."

"I want him captured, and brought to my dungeons, use whatever powers you have in your arsenal to do it." Christine ordered, she smiled widely as she turned away and continued to think about what she was going to do to the handsome young soldier.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

.

* * *

_Well there we go..._

_Next chapter we find out what's happening with Abby..._

_And of course Jess..._

_And Poor Becker, what evil scheme does Christine have in mind for our Action Man?_


	10. Chapter 10

_**The Curse**_

_**A/N**__**: Morgana, and Merlin Belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me.**_

_**Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. This story will be turning AU very quickly in to the story, be prepared for the impossible to happen!**_

_**Thank you go to YouHaveLovelyHair, Mijo54, Rubytronix, Aithion, Prawn Crackers, Auntineenah and MusicGirl97. You are all AWESOME, and this chapter is Dedicated to you.**_

* * *

_**Chapter 10**_

Abby awoke slowly to the feeling of someone's hand gently, stroking her face. The movement was smooth, full of tenderness, the hand, extremely soft.

She heard a very gentle voice cooing to her, telling her how much he loved her, for her to wake up, and wondering in his own mind if she could hear him. In the quiet room, his voice was the only one she heard, it was soft, full of emotion, and it was relaxing to listen.

She dosed for a moment just listening to his incessant murmurings. She could tell that he sat next to her on the small bed, his hand still stroking her face with the backs of his fingers. She raised her hand and rested her fingers on his.

Slowly she opened her eyes, gazing into his eyes, noticing the way he began to smile as she looked up at him. He went quiet for a moment and she couldn't hear his thoughts.

Slowly she began to look around the sumptuous room. She realised she lay on a four-poster bed, lush burgundy, velvet, curtains hung from the top, and the mattress was incredibly soft. She moaned softly, the events of the day catching up; her body still ached where Christine had grabbed her.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows that were as high and as tall as the ceiling; the old fashioned glass didn't look out of place in this old building and she gazed around the room. She noticed a portrait on the wall of a familiar gentleman, but she couldn't recall where she had seen the man before. It looked like a bearded version of Connor, only much older, he held a scroll in his hand, and wore the gown of a scholar. It was a painting that she would love to have hanging in her own home.

Then suddenly she heard his voice, even though his lips had not moved. _"She's so beautiful, I could kiss her."  
_  
Her eyes widened at this and she sat up quickly, and pressed a kiss to his cheek, his reaction gave her butterflies, and she kissed him again this time, on his lips, she pulled him closer enjoying the warmth from his body, her hands reaching around to his back, and she heard him again.

_'Oh Abby, I love you so much.'_ His voice was so full of understanding, love and care.

"I think love you too," she sighed as she pulled away from him.

"Really...?" Connor smiled.

His lips descended upon hers, he kissed her again, much more deeply. She felt his hands as they went around her waist, under her t-shirt, exploring her body.

_"Oh God, I want to make love to her, right here, right now, will she let me?"_ Abby heard him think, her breath hitched for a moment.

Abby could tell he was enjoying this, his thoughts told her so, and she could tell he wanted to explore further, yet she stiffened and pushed him away.

"What? What's going on?" He voiced his concern.

"Connor... I ... I can't..." She stuttered, her feelings a mixture of love and distress.

"Can't what?"

Before Abby could reply to him, they heard footsteps outside the door and the woman who looked like Jenny came in.

"Ah good, you're awake, are you up to receiving visitors?" She asked nonchalantly.

Abby nodded her consent, even though in reality she didn't want to see anyone but the man she had once shared her flat with. Strangely, she had wanted Connor to continue, to find out where those wonderfully supple hands would have ended up, and that had never happened to her before, not since... She wanted him to carry on and make love to her, something she craved, and that scared her.

The simple fact that she yearned for him to make love to her; worried her she had never felt this way before. Normally she fell for the wrong type of men, men who were quite happy with a one night stand, but with Connor she felt different, one night just would not suffice. She wanted him, yet didn't want him both at the same time. She was drawn to him, in a weird way that she couldn't describe, yet something in the back of her mind wanted to push him away and hide.

_'Oh God,' she gulped thought, 'I hope he can't hear me think...'_

She blushed, a deep crimson, pushed her current thoughts to the back of her mind; she didn't want to think about that right now, and she stood up from the bed. Not knowing what to do with herself, she stuck her hands deep into the back pockets of her jeans.

The door opened again and Cutter, Morgana, Pete, Ash, and an elderly gentleman that Abby didn't recognise came in.

"I think you know everyone here, I'm Claudia," she pointed to each person as she called their name, "This is Merlin, Cutter, Morgana, Pete, and Ash whom you've already met."

Abby looked over to Morgana, and smiled, she knew that Morgana called herself a modern day witch, and she performed magic just like a normal witch. She knew Pete, Ashley and Connor were werewolves and wondered if any of the others had strange abilities that she wasn't aware of; could they read her mind, hear her like she could with animals? Would she hear them too? She began to panic, and hoped that this was not going to be the case; she feared she would go mad if she heard so many all at once.

"How are you?" Claudia asked genuinely concerned for the young lady in front of her. She knew that Abby was Connor's key person; they had met in a previous life, but had failed in their quest because Pete had not approached the quest with the right partner.

"I'm OK, confused, but alright."

"Has Connor not told you of what's going to happen?" Claudia approached Abby cautiously, rubbing her arm as soon as she was able.

"He's told me, but at the time, I didn't believe him. I'm still not sure what's going on? Where I fit in? Weird things are happening that I don't understand."

"Well ... If you tell us what you don't understand, we'll try to answer your questions as best as we can." Claudia encouraged.

Abby huffed, if she told them about her strange abilities what would they think of her?

"Tell us young lady, your ability won't seem weird or strange here, after all the young man standing next to you can change into a wolf... How strange is that?" The man called Merlin croaked.

"Well... I can hear animals talking, I can hear their thoughts ..." Abby paused unsure if she should go on.

"That's nothing strange ... Not there anyway." Claudia spoke softly.

"But..." Abby huffed again, and began to wring her hands, "Since coming back here, to this place... I ... I can ..." She paused to take a deep breath, and then all too quickly, "I-can-hear-people-too!"

"You can hear all of us?" Cutter questioned, raising his eyebrows.

"Well so far... Only Connor, I'm not sure if it's everyone I can hear." Abby clarified.

"Well ... What am I thinking?" Cutter posed.

"Erm..." Abby tried to think about the voices in her head.

_'Go on Abby... Tell them what you can hear?'_ She heard a familiar voice.

"So far the only voice I can hear ... Is ... Connor." She glanced at him.

_'Yes!'_ He cheered in his head, and bounced on his knees, a grin appearing on his face. She immediately heard him say. _'Merlin said that whoever was my key would be able to hear my thoughts. This proves it! Abby is so my key!'  
_  
"You can't hear anyone else in the room?" Claudia asked.

"Connor...! Will you hush, I'm trying to concentrate!" Abby admonished, frowning. Abby paused, concentrating on each person in turn. The room became silent and all Abby could hear was the gentle murmuring, _"Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up."_ The words emerging from Connor as he tried to stop his thoughts from reaching her.

Eventually she shook her head. There was only one person whose thoughts she could hear. Why this had suddenly changed was a mystery, and she voiced her thoughts.

"One of the conditions of being a key person is being able to hear your partner's thoughts." Cutter smiled. "This is proof. You are Connor's Key."

"But why now? Why not when we first met?"

Cutter smiled at Claudia who stepped forward.

"You kissed him ... On the lips ..." She whispered, and then sighed. "He loves you so much; we all thought it was so obvious, but clearly not. It seems that you've been betrayed so many times in the past, that you daren't even trust your own instincts anymore."

Abby turned to Connor, and took his hand in her own, he was handsome, his facial features were nice, and his short hair was so much better than when they had first met, his dress sense had improved too.

She smiled as she recalled the many times he had been there for her, through thick and thin. He had been there when Stephen had turned her down, he had been there when Stephen, Cutter and Jenny had died, consoling her as much as he could. It seemed that whenever she had needed someone to turn to, he had been there - standing as solidly as a rock for her to lean on.

The fact that she and Connor were made for each other didn't sound so gross anymore, and she knew that despite everything that had happened in the past to her, in time, her adoration for him would continue to grow.

In that moment she knew she could accept Connor with all his geeky behaviour, his weird abilities. She felt she could love him, no matter what he looked like, no matter which form his body took; and even though she couldn't bear to be touched so intimately, she knew that one day she wanted to overcome her fear of being so close to anyone, she wanted to stop pushing people she cherished away, and she wanted Connor to be the one that she opened her heart to.

"Connor should be able to hear your thoughts too." Cutter told her.

Connor's face dropped.

"_But that's the thing... I can't." _Abby heard him whimper, even though his lips had not moved.

"What if I can't hear her?" Connor interjected.

"You will ..." Merlin answered smiling, before turning around and walking away muttering under his breath, "In time..."

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

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* * *

Later that evening Abby prepared to join the family with dinner. She asked what had happened to her brother and was told that Stephen was looking after him.

"What about the young woman we found, who is she?" Abby asked.

"She's a fairy, her name's Jessica. Shall we go and check on her?" Claudia pondered.

"Yes we should," both Abby and Morgana agreed.

Claudia led them down a few corridors; the fairy had been given a room closer to Claudia and Nick's own quarters where they could keep an eye on the young lady. Soon they met a physician coming from the young woman's quarters.

"How is she?" Claudia questioned the young female doctor.

"She has a broken wing, and the huge bruise on her head, together with the dilated pupils indicates that she has concussion. She'll need a few days if not weeks to recover fully. She should come round in the next twenty-four to forty-eight hours. But her wing will take weeks to mend."

Claudia became certain that she would not wake for a while, and she thanked the medic for her help and continued to Jessica's bedroom.

Opening the door Claudia was surprised to see Jack, he held a pillow in his hands and for a moment he looked startled by the women's presence.

"I'm adjusting her pillows..." He blushed awkwardly and then he slowly he leaned over the young woman and exchanged her pillow for the plump one in his hands.

"Carry on," Claudia smiled when he had finished. "Stephen will show you your quarters later."

"Thank you..." He mumbled before scampering away with a guilty look on his face. He didn't even stop to ask Abby if she was OK, something she found quite disconcerting. Abby chewed her lip, something wasn't right.

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Claudia, led Abby and Morgana to a chamber full of clothes, she pointed to all the outfits she had collected throughout the ages, tonight they would be getting dressed for dinner.

Morgana snapped her fingers, white smoke swirled around her, and in a moment it was gone, the green dress which had been hanging on the rail moments ago, now adorned her body. It looked as if it belonged to a rich lady in the Middle Ages, it was made from a shimmering satin material that shone in the light, whilst the material was very plain, the dress itself made up for the lack of design the long, wide sleeves hung from her elbows, and Morgana chose a thick wide metal belt that hung nicely from her hips, the end trailing down the floor length skirt between her legs.

The dress would have looked ridiculous in this day and age but when Claudia pulled out a similar floor length dress in blue, Abby decided that she didn't want to be the odd one out and she reached for a similar dress in white.

Morgana snapped her fingers twice more, once to aide Claudia, getting dressed and then once more to help Abby. White smoke enveloped them both and Abby felt her jeans disappear and the smooth material of the dress as it covered her body.

The dress Abby chose had golden thread embroidered throughout the bodice, whilst the bodice itself was fitted, the skirt flared out until it reached the floor, and the hem was embroidered up to her knee level. Abby was hesitant about the belt that looked as if it was made of pure gold, but Claudia insisted, saying that the outfit was incomplete without it.

Abby now relaxed enough, sat and allowed Claudia to apply a very natural make-up to her face. She found she enjoyed Morgana and Claudia's easy banter. Having questions of her own regarding Connor's strange heritage, she began to ask the ladies with her about everything.

Claudia was able to tell Abby the whole story, having lived throughout the ages, she had seen Connor grow up and change with each lifetime. She even told Abby how Christina had tried to thwart their plans by getting Connor to fall in love with one of her minions called Caroline. She told her about the time Connor had tried to complete the quest with Caroline and they had all failed miserably.

But this time there would be no mistakes, they knew who they were looking for, and it was down to the individual to accept who they were and to deal with it.

Morgana was able to inform her of her own powers and knowing that Abby had a magical background, she told her that she would be able to teach her all she needed to know to help them complete their quest. She also needed to teach Connor how to converse with her, and to read her mind.

"Remember this spell... Meddyliau atal, this simple incantation will help you, otherwise you'll be constantly reading each other's thoughts and after a while, this could be detrimental to your relationship."

Soon they were ready and one of Claudia's maids came to tell her that the elderly gentleman called Merlin, was feeling very tired, and he had retired for the evening, but, all of the other men were waiting in the dining hall.

Abby worried her lip on the way down to dinner. She wondered what Connor would think of her outfit. But seeing him made her weak at the knees, for Connor, Pete, and Ash had dressed for dinner too.

All the men had chosen fitted trousers in black suede that tied at the waist with a simple leather belt. However each shirt was different, Cutter's simple tunic was pale blue cotton, and he had added a jerkin of a deeper blue that contrasted with his shirt.

Pete wore a simple white tunic with puffed sleeves, he had tucked his shirt into his trousers, and he had also added a long black jerkin made of suede.

Abby looked from Ash to Connor and back again, she was trying to tell the brothers apart and found that she couldn't.

One twin wore a simple tunic in green and he had added a belt similar to the one his sibling was wearing. The other, wore a cream tunic similar to Pete's; he had tucked his tunic into his trousers and he had added a short brown suede jerkin instead. Abby couldn't help thinking that he looked like Hans Solo; and all that was missing was his gun.

She looked down at her own dress, and heard one of the twins think _'Abby - you look like Princess Leia!'_ She saw his accompanying smile and blushed knowing that he approved.  
Hearing his thoughts she smiled, and she turned to face the man she was falling in love with.

* * *

.

-o-o-o

.

* * *

Ash, observant as any policeman could ever be, kept looking around the table; Cutter had told him how he was convinced that they had a traitor amongst them. He noticed Stephen in particular, as he hovered around the table.

"Stephenson," he called.

"Yes sir,"

"I can't help wondering what Jessica means when he says 'Don't Trust Steven's Son'. Do you have any children?"

"No sir, I do not have any offspring at all. I can't recall having fathered any children." Stephen replied, using the correct terminology to address his employer's guests.

"Could there be anyone you have met, a one chance meeting with a woman?"

Stephen glanced at Cutter.  
"Well there was Helen, but I have not seen her since my time at the ARC, and I doubt that any children produced from that affair would be old enough to cause serious trouble."

Stephen smiled too briefly for Ash to be entirely comfortable, and he continued to watch him, attend to Cutter's guests, until he excused himself and left the room.

"What's the matter Ash? You look like you have something on your mind. As if you doubt him..." Cutter surmised.

"I don't know enough about him to be sure, but I'm not entirely convinced." Ash paused for a moment, chewing the food in his mouth and swallowing before continuing. "I've read his files, and everything seems to be in order, but I _just _don't have faith in him."

"He's a good man, saved my life many times in the past. I have no reason NOT to trust him." Cutter informed him.

Ash conceded, there was something about Stephen he couldn't quite put his finger on, but for Cutter's sake he was prepared to overlook it. He continued to watch Cutter's manservant until he left the room, he was sure he had seen him reach for a mobile phone.

"So what about Abby's brother ...? Is he actually related to you?" Ashley questioned.

"No..." Abby shook her head; she had a feeling she was not going to like where Ash's train of thought was taking them.

"So could it be possible that he is our mysterious "Steven's Son?"

Cutter pondered for a moment. Ash's suggestion didn't sound so far-fetched, especially if Jack's birth father was called Steven.

"So, where do we go from here?" Pete questioned.

"The woman you found – She's a Fairy Princess, her name is Jessica. I was talking to the doctor about her. She's been sedated right now, she needs her rest." Cutter informed them. He carried on.

"You have to find Ash's key ... Now my sources tell me that one of Christina's minions have kidnapped her. She has been taken out of this time and she has been locked up. He couldn't tell me where she had been taken, but told me that she had been taken to the 12th century." Cutter paused and looked around the table, then once he had everyone's attention he continued.

"Morgana will be able to open an anomaly, not far from where she is kept. It won't be precise, but it will be close enough. All you have to do is bring her back to the present. Whilst you look for Ash's key, Morgana and Pete will teach the rest of you everything you need to know to complete this quest."

During dinner Abby tried to keep up with the conversation at the table but she kept hearing Connor's thoughts as well as her own and very quickly her head began to throb.

Putting down her cutlery she ran her fingers through her hair.

_"Abby – I hope she's OK?" _

She noted the concerned look on Connor's face and realised that he had not actually spoken, she was hearing his thoughts again.

"Abby? Are you OK?" He questioned again, this time audibly.

Sadly she shook her head, and she leaned over to Morgana and whispered something in her ear.  
Morgana, in turn, turned and whispered something back to her.

Abby muttered something under her breath, and sighed smiling. Now no longer plagued by Connor's thoughts, she could think for herself and she relaxed for the first time during the lavish meal.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Abby knew that Cutter and Claudia were preparing for them to go on some sort of quest, but she was worried.

"I can't go on this mission, what about Rex and the rest of my pets?" Abby voiced her concerns over breakfast.

"You're worried about Rex?" Cutter smiled.

"Well I need someone to feed him don't I?"

"We'll look after him; I'll have him brought here." Nick turned to Stephen, "Can you go to Abby's flat, retrieve all her pets, bring them here."

"Sir," Stephenson nodded and walked away.

Half an hour later Abby was reunited with her beloved pets, Stephenson looking very uncomfortable as he handed the snakes over.

Rex chittered at Abby's feet.

"Morgana, Merlin is not feeling too well, could you do the honours?" Cutter asked the witch.

"Sure..." Morgana walked over to Rex, and holding a hand over him, she muttered an incantation.

Rex began to glow, and grow, his wings disappeared, his colour began to change and his skin turned into a pale white colour. Clothes appeared on his unusual body, and soon a midget about two feet in height stood in front of Abby. He had a dirty but pleasant childlike face looking remarkably like a street urchin from Oliver Twist. He had elongated ears, a cute turned up nose, small smiling lips, and a thick mop of dark hair on his head. He was wearing a smart green tunic and what looked strangely like bottle green tights.

Unable to believe her eyes, Abby stumbled backwards into Connor's arms. Looking at Connor she noticed his mouth had fallen open, and she was sure that he was just as surprised as she was.

The little elf turned towards Cutter.

"I've been watching her, just like you said Sir." He then turned towards Abby. "She's been nice to me; she fed me, kept me warm. Thank you Miss, I won't forget your kindness Miss." The creature Abby had assumed was Rex, spoke in a squeaky childlike voice.

"Is there anything to report?" Cutter smiled at the elf.

"Don't like that boy that moved in, he tried to hurt me, tried to give me away to his friends. They should not have been allowed into the Miss's flat, Sir."

Cutter looked at Abby questioningly.

"I think he means my brother Jack." Abby clarified to Cutter.

"Pardon me Miss, but he's not your bruvver Miss, I don't know who he is, but he ain't your bruvver Miss." The little elf blinked, his bright blue eyes shining in the sunlight that streamed in through the window.

"Why do you say that?" Cutter questioned.

"Because he kept making weird phone calls Sir, I couldn't make out who he was talking to, but it didn't sound right Sir. He kept talking to someone; kept telling them what the young miss was doing sir. Kept telling them about when she was coming and going Sir."

Cutter blinked as he digested this information. He was not happy to hear about Jack, and what he had been doing.

"Christine Johnston! He's been talking to Christine!" Nick spat through gritted teeth, frowning. "Thank you Rex, thank you very much. You can go with Stephenson, he'll show you your quarters and you'll be helping in the kitchens."

"Thank you, sir." The little elf bowed down low, his nose almost brushing the floor. The tiny little boy turned to Abby, saluted to her, and then tottered off behind Stephenson towards the kitchens.

Cutter was furious; having been told that Jack was talking to someone regarding Abby's movements annoyed him. Without hesitation he summoned the young boy.

"What are you going to do?" Abby questioned concerned for her brother's safety.

"He can't stay here; I can't have him telling anyone what we're doing," Cutter informed her.

Abby gasped. "You're going to kill him?" Her eyes became wide and frightened.

"No! Whatever gave you that impression?"

"Where will he go? What will he do?"

"Don't worry; I have someone who can look after him, he'll be looked after." Cutter noticed the questioning look in her eyes and knew he would have to tell her of his plan. "My footman Roger, he's a trusted man, he will take him away from here, they'll live in London, somewhere safe."

* * *

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Reviews are love and help feed the ever hungry muse...

Ow, ow, owwwwwwwwww!


	11. Chapter 11

_**The Curse**_

_A/N__: Morgana, and Merlin Belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

_Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. This story is AU, be prepared for the impossible to happen!_

_Thank you go to Auntineenah, Prawn Crackers, Moura1371, Mijo54, MouseyJayne, Musicgirl97, and CeffylGwn for leaving reviews._

_Prawn Crackers wanted to be able to snap her fingers and be ready for the day, just like Abby in the previous chapter - I agree with you! I think everyone's life would be much easier that way!_

* * *

**_Chapter 11_**

Claudia was busy filling sturdy leather bags for Pete, Connor, Ash, Abby and Morgana to take with them. She packed enough food and water to last a week, but told them that any longer than that and they would have to find their own supplies.

Morgana looked at her necklace, once this particular necklace had contained lots of beads to open anomalies, but now there were not many beads left, and most of their journey in that particular time period would have to be completed on foot. They had a lot of distance to cover and she hoped that the beads would last.

Soon the time came for everyone to leave and as they were going to look for Ash's key, Morgana pulled out a small compass, focused on him, then, taking a bead from her necklace, threw it to the ground a strange orange coloured mist began to rise, there was a crash, something that sounded like glass breaking, and an anomaly appeared. This one was orange in colour and Connor once more marvelled at the different colours within.

Stepping through Pete, Connor, Ash, Abby and Morgana found themselves in medieval England. They couldn't be sure of the date but it was definitely in the twelfth century.

"Great! Now we are here, we can start looking for my key." Ashley beamed excitedly.

"Well, shouldn't we look for shelter first? We could be here a while; we'll need a place to stay, and although Claudia's packed food and water, we'll need to find our own supply." Connor surmised.

"He's right, we find shelter." Pete agreed with his youngest son. They could spend weeks looking for Ash's key. He sniffed and became aware of Ashley's mood changing. The bubbly mood of excitement changed to a bitter odour, one of discontent.

Pete seemed to know exactly what sort of shelter would suit them, and they headed for the hills where they could see the valley below. The cave they found seemed the perfect choice; it was hidden by lush vegetation on one side, with a river that flowed past it on the other. The water was fresh and clean, and they could use it for drinking and bathing.

.

-o-o-o-

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* * *

Abby had spent the entire morning with Morgana. Abby had told Morgana of her reluctance to believe what was happening to her, she had tried to repress her feelings for so long and for so many years; that she no longer believed that the strange things she did with her hands and her mind were truly magical. Abby did not believe that she, like Morgana, was a modern day witch.

She had always known that she did weird things; she knew it was her, somehow fires would start of their own accord, things flew through the air, and she could make everyday objects float in the air just by thinking about them. What she didn't understand was her strange ability to understand animals. To Abby she could almost hear them in her mind, as if they were really talking to her.

She remembered her stint at Wellington Zoo. The lizards there actually hated Frank Sinatra; they wanted something a bit more upbeat, something by Wham! Abby had snorted when the thought had popped into her head, she didn't realise that she had actually heard the lizards requesting a particular song.

When Morgana had informed her to expect these things to happen, Abby told her about the day she threw Jack out of her flat. How she had made things levitate, how Jack's things had flown around the room to land in her hand so that she could bundle them into his rucksack. How the whole experience had not only upset her that she could do these things, but that she had let her strong emotions overcome her, and that she had deliberately set out to throw Jack out of her flat.

Morgana told her that now was the time she should let her magic guide her, they would need Abby's skills on this journey and hoped that she would let her natural ability shine through.

Abby found that she could talk to Morgana quite easily, she seemed to know what was truly bothering her and sometimes it was almost as if she could read her mind. She told her about the recent discovery about Jack, how he could not be trusted. She had seen the look on his face as they had found him in the Fairy's quarters.

"It was almost as if he was there doing something else, the more I think about it, the more I realise," she huffed. "It was almost as if he was trying to kill her, smother her with pillows."

"Don't worry; I think Nick has everything under control. If the Fairy Jessica is in danger, I'm sure they will find a way of dealing with it. Anyway, they are years away, there is no way of really contacting them, and I really don't want to use up a bead just to tell Cutter this information." Morgana explained.

.

-o-o-o-

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* * *

Morgana stood at the entrance of the cave and appraised the panoramic view, it was dusk. The sounds of wildlife filled the air, in particular the birds of this time which were looking to roost. She heard a raven not far from where she stood. The cave was high up and they would be able to see anyone coming, but they could also survey the area and try to find Ashley's key. There were several outcrops of houses, and Morgana knew that they would have to visit each village to try to find Ashley's key.

They knew she was here somewhere; Cutter had told them that Ashley had already met the young lady and it was only a matter of time before they met again. Nick had also told them that Ash would know that she was his key as soon as he saw her, now, it was just a case of finding her. Little did they know of how close they actually were and that the tower which was her prison was twenty miles behind their chosen stony abode?

She looked out over the horizon and knew it would only be a matter of hours before moonrise, she bit her lip, if her predictions were correct, tonight; there would be a Super moon. The Super moon was a phenomenon that occurred once every year, and meant the moon was at its closest to the earth.

The full moon itself would not only cause the men's metamorphosis into werewolves, but also make them incredibly dangerous to be around, and the closeness of the moon to the earth would make the men more feral than ever. Tonight, she and Abby would have to seal the cave using enchantments.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Now that they were alone, Pete could teach his sons more about controlling their ability to change into wolves. The brothers still had a lot to learn, for instance how to recognise the signs that they were about to change, how to stop any potential changes in an embarrassing situation, and also how to change at the drop of a hat. Pete had already taught Ash a lot about being able to control his inner wolf, all he had to do now was learn how not to lose his clothes with each change.

Pete and Connor were talking, Pete trying to show Connor how to keep his emotions in check, Ash already knew much of what Pete was teaching Connor, and he was getting annoyed; it was if his father didn't care about him. Since Connor had come along and changed too, all he could talk about was the transformation and how to do it properly.

"When are we going to look for my key? It's why we are here, so why aren't we looking for her?" Ashley grunted, grabbing Pete by his tunic, causing a bird to startle and fly away.

He was tired of Pete, tired of being told what to do, _sick_ of his father's Alpha wolf status. He gritted his teeth and growled from the bottom of his throat.

"I _hate_ you, you know that...?" Ashley growled, still holding onto his father's brown tunic.

Pete heard his eldest son, he could even smell the boys hatred; it was bittersweet, sickly, and rancid, and reminded him of the twin's mother, Diane; her cheap perfume. To be honest, he was surprised by his sons behaviour, and wondered what was grating on his nerves, what had caused this particular outburst.

"What's _up_ with you? I'm trying to teach Connor how to control his inner wolf!" He knocked his son's hands off his shirt angrily, beginning to get annoyed himself.

_"Connor, Connor, Connor!_ It's always been about Connor, hasn't it! You've always hated me! You even had me sent to that _miserable_ Boarding School! You didn't even realise how much I _hated_ it there!" Ashley snarled at his father, his eyes little slits, his body tingling.

"What?" This was news to Pete; he hadn't known how much his son had disliked the boarding school that had been the boy's home for his formative years.

"You couldn't bear to be anywhere _near_ me! Every month you'd take me to the Cuttershall's and you'd leave me with them!" Ash spat.

_"I had my reasons!"_ Pete shouted, getting annoyed. How dare he? He was a child, a mere pup, and was challenging him! He didn't even know the basics of being a werewolf and was challenging him! _Him! The alpha male!_

_ "I BET YOU DID! You had a different woman hanging off your arm every time I saw you!_" Ashley shouted his body tingling more and more, any moment now he was going to change, he couldn't help it. He growled once more, the tingling sensation overcame him and he transformed, fur grew all over his body, his hands and feet changed, and he was a wolf once more.

Pete's own anger peaked, and he too mutated into a ferocious wolf. He leapt at Ashley knocking him to the ground. He would _not_ be spoken to like that! He was top dog and he would remain that way!

His jaws clamped around Ashley's neck, causing the youngster to yelp in pain.

_"STOP...! DAD! You MUSTN'T!" _Connor shouted, realising how dangerous the situation had become. He wondered what had caused this sudden change in behaviour.

Suddenly Morgana rushed into the clearing, Abby behind her.

_"STOP...!"_ She shouted at Pete and rushed forward, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck, and pulling him away from the wolf who was his eldest son.

Abby and Connor rushed towards Ashley, Connor covered his nakedness as he turned back to normal.

Morgana turned towards Ashley, having heard her partner's thoughts; she began to explain Pete's disappearances.

"Your father had no choice but to leave you with the Cuttershall's and at the boarding school. Every month during the full moon! _He didn't want to hurt you!" _Morgana gasped for breath. She had come running when she heard the cry, and knew someone was hurt. Regaining her breath she continued. "It's tonight's full moon, it's a super moon, and it's the reason behind your huge mood swings." Morgana waited and watched as her words sank in.

"Super moon...?" Connor and Ashley questioned together.

"A super moon occurs once every year, it's when the moon is at its closest to the earth, and it tends to send creatures really wild." Abby informed them, looking Connor in the eyes. Was he going to be affected by the moon too?  
Would he not be able to control his feelings and actions, become unhinged?"  
Morgana turned towards Ashley, having heard Pete's thoughts; she began to explain Pete's disappearances.

"Every time you change under the moons influence; you tend to hurt people, people you care about; people you love can be killed in an instant. Ash, your father loves you; you've got to believe that." She turned to Pete who had regained his human form.

"I'm sorry Ash, I really am. If I left you with Nick and Claudia, it was because I didn't want to hurt you." Pete gulped; a bitter memory returning.

"You were seven months old, just after I had split with your mother. The moon made me change, I couldn't help it, I just wanted to kill something, _anything_, and you were the only living thing around. I'll never forgive myself for that night..." Pete sniffed. "I nearly killed you. If it wasn't for Nick and Claudia coming around, you'd be dead."

Ashley was half-dressed as he heard this; he had pulled on his trousers, and had his shirt in his hand. He watched as Pete turned away from his them, trying not to show how much he was hurting, nevertheless, Ashley could still smell him, the pain, and hurt in his father's heart as the memories resurfaced.

Ashley blinked; he had not expected a confession such as this. He thought about how his father must have felt, sniffed the air around him and knew that he had been wrong. His father did love him, after all. He just couldn't show it. He thought about other times when his father had taken him on a short break, and the times he had been left with the Cuttershall family had been on nights which heralded a full moon, the nights when his father could not have possibly looked after him.

"I'm sorry Dad. I didn't know..."

Pete turned towards them; his emotions now under control he hugged his eldest son.

* * *

That night, Pete, took his sons deep into the forest, away from the women. He wanted to ensure everyone's safety and tonight was the one night where even he couldn't control himself. The wanting to kill was so strong he just had to do something.

Tomorrow they could relax, tomorrow they could control themselves.

Tonight he and his sons would become hunters, hunting because the want was so deep, the need to kill so high.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

It was morning when they returned to the cave.

"Hey look! Look at what we've managed to catch for breakfast!" Excitedly, Pete held up a small deer, his sons standing behind him. Blood coated their mouths and dripped down their chins, onto their tattered and torn clothing. It was clear that they had hunted down the poor animal; that the super lunar event had caused this.

Morgana smiled benignly, she wasn't an animal lover, but the sight of the deer and knowing that Pete had killed it, had her stomach twisting into knots as she looked at the poor animal, nevertheless, she took the deer and magically began to prepare it for breakfast.

Connor looked down at his hands and down at his stained clothes. The werewolf part of him revelled in the smell of the blood on his clothes, but the other part of Connor, the human part was disgusted by his actions.

Had he, with his father and brother really hunted down this poor animal? Had he, without even sparing a thought for this poor creature hunted it down, killing it?

A memory of the night before resurfaced, it made his stomach lurch, and he ran off towards the river where Abby was collecting fresh water. With his stomach churning violently, he purged the contents, pulled off his shirt and began to scrub off the dried blood.

"Are you OK Conn...?" Abby became concerned as she watched Connor. She tuned into his thoughts and she instantly knew; he was annoyed with himself for what had happened.

Was this going to be the way forward now for Connor? She knew that he loved the creatures as much as she did, and the fact that he had killed an animal did not sit well with him. She sat next to him and rubbed his bare back as he shivered. Snapping her fingers, she was pleased when a tunic similar to the one he had worn floated in the air.

"Here you go, put this on, before you catch a cold."

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

After Ash's outburst, Pete agreed to let him go off and look for his lady-love, he was not going to be able to find her if he hung around all day.

Morgana taught Abby all she knew and how to use her powers. She showed her how to conjure a bow and arrows, a spear which they could use to hunt and catch fish, how to make things float in midair without letting them fall. Initially Abby could only levitate things for a few minutes at a time, when Morgana did it, things stayed suspended indefinitely.

Pete taught Connor how to control his metamorphosis and his unusual desires which came along with turning into a werewolf. He knew that Connor felt uncomfortable about hunting whilst they were in their wolf form, and whilst he knew that neither Abby nor Morgana were happy with the idea, he knew that they understood that it was a part of their condition that couldn't really be controlled.

In the evening they all sat down to eat the deer that had been caught, and after filling their stomachs, settled down for the night. Connor felt better eating cooked meat, the fresh kill and raw meat had not agreed with Connor and since yesterday had been his first moonlit night, he could be forgiven for his behaviour and next time he would be better prepared for the unpleasant night.

Pete and Morgana took one corner of the cave, an alcove which provided a bit of privacy, whilst Abby and Connor sat in the other corner.  
Ashley insisted that it was his turn to stand and watch and he took up position at the front of the cave, throwing a stone at the raven which had perched near the entrance.

Connor sidled up and sat himself next to Abby, she was cold and shivering. Nervously he put an arm over her shoulder, only to find her become rigid with his touch. The wonderful smell of apple crumble, seemed to dissipate, and it became sour and bitter.

"What's the matter Abby?"

"Nothing's wrong..." She muttered an incantation and tuned herself into his thoughts wanting to know what had prompted him.

_"How do I tell her that she smells strange?"_ He thought.

"What...? I can hear your thoughts Conn ... What do you mean I smell strange?" Abby prompted, explaining herself and moving away slightly to look him straight in the face.

"Part of being a werewolf... I can smell ... Feelings. Normally you smell of Gran's apple crumble, I used to love that when I was growing up, and I love that smell on you. Now you smell musty and damp."

Abby blinked as she processed what he had just said. "I smell musty and damp?"

"Yeah, kinda reminds me of when I was naughty, mum would lock me in the cellar. It's the reason why I don't like small, dark enclosed places; it reminds me of my childhood." He paused knowing that he would not be able to get any closer to her tonight. All he had wanted to do was hold her.

"I ... I don't ..." Abby gulped. "What I mean to say is that I don't like getting close or being held very well Connor. It reminds me of my childhood, I ... I didn't have family looking after me. I spent my time being passed from foster home to foster home. Some places weren't nice. I'm sorry, I know you just want hold me, but ..." She wanted to hold him, wanted to be held in return, but just wasn't sure if she was ready.

"OK..." Dejected Connor moved away. "I'll sleep over here." He moved closer to the fire in the centre of the cave, lying on the cold stone floor, his back towards her, he left her sitting with her knees drawn up on the makeshift bed of ferns.

Abby didn't have to hear his thoughts to know that she'd hurt him, the way he moved away said it all. Nevertheless, she could hear him, and for some strange reason, she wanted to hear him, all the thoughts which went through his mind.

_"All I want to do is hold her, what does she think I'm going to do?"_ Abby heard him, and it broke her heart. _"Blown out... Again! At this rate, I'll never be able to break the curse."_

Abby huffed quietly to herself. Was she really comparing Connor to that ... _that monster?_ Connor could never be as mean and as disgusting as that man!

Abby sniffed. "Connor ..." she waited for him to turn and face her. "Look, sit next to me ... but..." she patted the fern bedding next to her. "No funny business."

_"Me? Never... I won't do anything you don't want me to."_ Connor shook his head. "I promise; I won't do anything." He clarified, forgetting that she still had access to his thoughts.

Gingerly he sat next to her, folding his arms, keeping his hands to himself. This was probably more painful than lying away from her. He loved her with all his heart, and could not even think about hurting her, he would rather die than hurt her.

Reading his mind somewhat comforted Abby, she realised his pure intentions and that he had only wanted to hold her, Abby took his hand and pulled his arm around her. She was cold and having Connor sitting so close with his arm around her seemed to warm her. He was hot to touch, and Abby wondered out loud if he was ill.

"I've not always been warm like this. I think it's a result of my becoming a werewolf."

Abby smiled and leaned closer, the warmth from his body was calming, and she could hear his thoughts, as various things went through his mind. Most of it how much he loved her, how he would always look after her, and how he wanted to be with her forever.

Connor's droning voice, and the warmth from his body spread through her, and she began to relax. It wasn't long before her eyelids became heavy, and she fell asleep in Connor's arms. She didn't even notice when Connor lay her down on the bed, she was so deep in slumber that she didn't even notice Connor move away to talk to his brother.

Connor went over to speak to Ashley, to find out if there was something he was doing wrong? Why he couldn't strike a chord with Abby, if there was a reason that most girls - including Abby – stayed aloof from him? He also wondered if his brother's track record was any good. Had he like Pete, been searching for his key? It was obvious that he had not found her although Cutter did mention something about him having already met her once before.

Ashley had been giving Connor tips on how to make Abby feel loved, when suddenly they heard moaning emanating from behind them.

They noticed that Abby was tossing and turning in her bed, and from the rapid eye movement beneath closed lids, it became evident she was having a nightmare.

Hesitantly Connor approached her...

.

-o-o-o

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* * *

_She was running through a long convoluted maze, the high hedgerows prevented her from seeing too much, and kept turning to see if she was being followed, she turned this way and that, trying to find her way out. Hearing footsteps, her heart began to palpitate, and she picked up her pace and moved faster. _

_Reaching the end of her path, she tuned to walk down the path to the side only to find it blocked. She began to panic even more, the footsteps drew closer, and she knew he was after her, he was coming to hurt her, and this time he would not show her any mercy..._

_"Abby..." the voice sang out, sending cold shivers through her entire body. "Abby..."_

_She began to tremble..._

"Abby you've been a naughty girl, I'll have to teach you a lesson and you'll do as you're told..."

_"Abby..."_

She heard him call her name, felt his hand on her shoulder... She screamed.

* * *

"Abby ..." Connor touched her shoulder trying to calm her without actually waking her, when she screamed.

Morgana and Pete appeared from their little alcove.

Tears streaming down her face, Abby pulled Connor close and cleaved against his chest, sobbing against him.

Holding her, he nodded a silent comment to Pete; he would look after her and make sure she was OK. Pete nodded and he and Morgana retired once more into their little alcove deeper in the cave.

Connor wondered what sort of nightmare would have Abby react in this manner, and he wondered if she would tell him.

Hearing his comforting thoughts, Abby pulled back from him and answered his question.

"Remember I told you about my childhood Conn, where I was sent from foster home to foster home? That some weren't nice?"

"Yes..."

"Well I dreamt that he was coming for me ... My foster father, he used to ... hurt me."

Tears began to roll down her eyes once more. "He was horrible..."

_"What did he do to you? How did he hurt you?"_ Connor thought, and then he changed his mind. "You know what ... I don't even want to know. I'm here now, and he's not going to hurt you ever again. I promise. Hush now." Caringly he ran his hand through her hair and down her back, soothing her.

Abby smiled weakly at his genuine words. "Please don't leave me..." Abby shivered. She hated feeling so helpless, but her recurring nightmare always left her feeling vulnerable. Remembering his innocent thoughts she relaxed, and with Connor's comforting arms around her, she drifted into an uneasy sleep.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

In the meantime, Becker was making his way back home. It had been a long and eventful day at the ARC, with Christine ousting Lester from his position as head of the organisation. Becker had managed to overthrow Christine Johnson, by making a simple voice recording of the things she was saying in the ARC. The minister, upon hearing the woman's remarks, had insisted on Lester's reinstatement at the secret agency.

Danny, and Sarah, had been pleased to return once Lester was back. In fact Becker was sure the person cheering the loudest, was Danny.

Parking his truck in its usual spot outside his flat he climbed out, pulling out carrier bags of shopping as he did so.

Suddenly he heard a flap of wings, he looked around him trying to look for an escaped animal, looking up at the last minute, he saw a huge green creature, with wings swoop down upon him, dropping his shopping he tried to protect himself as best as he could.

The huge dragon, reached for him with its talons, and gripped his arms tightly as it took hold of him and flew off into the night.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

A week later, Morgana and Abby were tidying the campsite making it suitable for the night, whilst Ash was out scouting the area looking for a partner.

Pete and Connor were out in search of food; they also need dry sticks to use on the fire. Arriving at the mouth of the cave Pete and Connor appeared with dinner. Connor let the timber he was carrying fall to the floor. He sniffed, he could smell a strong scent, one so strong it was making his body tingle. He knew that if he didn't find that source of the smell he was going to change and he wouldn't be able to control himself.

"Abby! What's that smell?"

Abby's eyes widened in shock.

"What smell?" She sprang up, ready to leave the cave at a moment's notice.

"I can smell ..." He sniffed the air around him, his head turning from side to side, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. "Blood!"

He sniffed again. "Can't you smell it?"

Connor leaned closer to Abby, and breathed in deeply. His eyes widened, his irises began glowing purple and then amber, his body tingled even more, and he felt as if he couldn't control what was going to happen next.

"It's you!" He growled, unable to control himself he transformed, his clothes falling to the floor of the cave.

Terrified, Abby backed up against the wall of the cave as a ferocious wolf appeared in place of the man she loved.

Unable to control himself he growled at her, his sharp fangs on show, ready to rip her to pieces...

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

_Oh dear, it seems like Werewolf!Connor is going to rip Abby to bits!_

_What's happening to Becker!_

_Ow ow owwwwwww!_


	12. Chapter 12

_**The Curse**_

_A/N__: Morgana, and Merlin Belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

_Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. This story is AU, be prepared for the impossible to happen!_

_**Thanks go to CeffylGwyn, Musicgirl97, Auntineenah, Rubytronix, Mijo54, Moura1371, and Prawn Crackers love to all of you.** _

_WARNING: Contains hints of a cut scene which requires a higher rating!_

* * *

**_Chapter 12_**

_"Abby! What's that smell?"_

_"What smell?" She sprang up, ready to leave the cave at a moment's notice._

_"I can smell ..." He sniffed the air around him, his head turning from side to side, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. "Blood!"_

_He sniffed again. "Can't you smell it?"_

_Connor leaned closer to Abby, and breathed in deeply. His eyes widened, his irises began glowing purple then amber, his body tingled even more, and he felt as if he couldn't control what was going to happen next._

_"It's you!" He snarled, unable to control himself he transformed, his clothes falling to the floor of the cave._

_Terrified, Abby backed up against the wall of the cave as a wolf appeared in place of the man she loved._

_Unable to control himself he growled at her, his sharp fangs on show, ready to rip her to pieces..._

* * *

**_._**

**_-o-o-o_**

**_._**

"Connor ...! You're scaring me!" She screamed terrified of the snarling wolf in front of her.

"Connor...! Stop...!" Morgana shouted, lunging and grabbing Connor before he could hurt Abby.

Then Pete turned, and he too began sniffing. "What's that smell?"  
Abby burst into tears, and she ran from the cave, unsure of what she was going to do, where to go, unsure of how she was going to mask the smell. She ran into the trees nearby, salty liquid streamed down her face.

Instructing Pete to keep Connor in the cave was not easy. After all Pete was Alpha male, and not only did his curiosity want him to find the source of the unusual odour, but as an alpha, he didn't react well to Morgana giving orders. Nevertheless he listened to her and kept a hold of the young lad.

Morgana followed Abby, she knew something was wrong, and somehow she knew what the problem was. Gently she approached her.

"Abby... Are you ok?"

Abby dashed the tears from her face and nodded sadly.

"It's your time isn't it? And you're upset because they can smell you..."

Abby nodded sadly. If it wasn't bad enough having Connor know she was having her period, but now Pete and Morgana knew too.

Morgana smiled, she seemed to know everything about Abby, how she knew was unnerving, but Abby was getting used to it.

"I don't know how I can control this, how I can mask the smell,"

"Hush..." Morgana soothed rubbing her back. "I'll show you a trick. A simple spell you'll be able to conjure yourself."

Morgana clicked her fingers and two pieces of material the size and shape of a handkerchief appeared. She pulled them out of the air, and gave one piece to Abby. With the other she walked over to a bush. She pulled the tiny purple flowers off the bush, and placed them in the material, she pulled more and more flowers until she had a small pile in the centre of the handkerchief. When she had enough of the flowers, she wrapped them in the material, creating a small pouch of the sweet smelling flowers.

"This is lavender, it will mask the smell of blood, and you have to gather fresh lavender everyday to prevent the men from smelling too much. The smell of your blood and pheromones will drive Connor wild because he is so closely connected with you."

She took the second piece of material, and folded it lengthwise upon itself four times.

"Place this inside your underwear; it will catch most of the blood you're losing. You will need to wash it often to keep it clean. There is a simple spell to dry it once it has been washed. I'll teach you." Morgana smiled.

"Thank you," Abby smiled briefly. At least she had a solution to most of her problems. "One thing I don't understand, why did the smell of blood make Connor change like that? He turned on me; like he wanted to rip my throat out. Why?"

"The smell of blood will do that, he doesn't know how to control himself fully yet. Once he is able to stop himself, he will calm, and he will be able to be around you without him changing. Come on tell me, what else is upsetting you?" Morgana smiled.

Morgana tried to get Abby to open up to her. She knew about Abby's past about how she had been fostered as a young child, how she had been abused in her teens before she went to live at the Ryan household.

Abby shook her head.

"Not unless you can magic up a nice hot bath for me."

"I can't magic up a bath for you, but I can do this." Morgana led Abby down to the river.

The river was flowing fast, and Morgana and Abby walked upstream towards the source. Soon they came to a waterfall and a little clearing where the water gathered, the small pool of water was calm and clear, was deep enough to bathe in and Morgana taught Abby a simple spell to heat the water.

Abby smiled as she put her hand in the hand-hot water. It felt nice, and she smiled.

"Have your bath, a long soak will do you good, make you feel better. I'll stand watch and make sure that no people or animals come this way."

"Thank you," Abby murmured.

She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the water. It was just like having a hot bath; it just seemed weird to be enjoying this in medieval times. Abby wished she had some soap; she looked around her wondering what she could use, when she saw flowers growing by the water's edge.

Grabbing a few of them she conjured a spell to make a small amount of soap. Just enough to wash her hair and use on her body. She thought of all the things that Morgana had taught her. All she had to do was believe in herself; believe that she could do this. She thought about the madness of the last few weeks.

She had been working at the ARC, Cutter and Jenny had both been alive, then dead and now they were alive again. It was something she couldn't quite get her head around, but the bottom line was they were alive, and that was all that mattered.

She was learning how to use her powers properly, something no one else could show her, and she was grateful to Morgana for helping her understand what was happening to her. Why she was able to do certain things, why she could understand the animals in her special way. All she had to do now was learn how to control the magic which she was able to perform.

The flowers gave her body a sweet smelling scent, and Abby was feeling better after washing her clothes and herself. Putting on the wet clothes she met Morgana once again, so they could walk back to the camp.

Morgana taught Abby a simple drying spell so that she would not remain in wet clothes.

"Sychu'r" She muttered. Warm air began to envelope Abby as her hair and clothes dried.

Abby smiled, she was finally getting to grips with her abilities and she was learning how to use them properly.

But now she had to face Connor, and she was scared. Telling Morgana of her worries she let her go on ahead so that she could prepare the men for when she arrived. She did not want any ugly scenes where they changed because of her. Morgana assured her that because of the pouch of lavender, the men would not react to her in that way again.

Still the older woman went on ahead anyway, to prepare Pete and Connor for her arrival.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

Connor was beside himself with worry. His reaction to her had been very abrupt, he couldn't help but react to her in that way and now not only did he feel embarrassed about it, he was genuinely worried about her, he knew in the bottom of his heart he could never done anything to hurt Abby, but his change had been so quick and unexpected, he did not have time to stop himself.

The simple fact that he could have hurt her, wanted to bite her, left him feeling uneasy about himself. This was Abby... He loved her and yet the uncontrollable impulse to kill her made him feel bad. He didn't want this, he wanted Abby, and he wanted to claim her as his own. His heart told him that this was his mate, that he would not have ripped her throat out, but when Abby had ran from the cave in tears, he knew that this shouldn't be happening between them, that he had upset her, and he did not like it one bit.

He walked down the slope to meet her as she slowly climbed the small hill to their cave.

"Abby...?" He called.

"Stop right there! Don't come any closer!"

Connor felt a lump in his throat, had he driven her away for good? Would she never trust him again? Would she ever want to be with him? He felt the sting in his eyes, felt his eyes begin to brim, but he made up his mind, he would _not_ cry in front of her.

"Abby ...? Are you Ok? I'm sorry about earlier, I really am, and I didn't mean to frighten you that way. I just couldn't help it, I'll try harder next time, I promise. Please come back to the cave."

"You changed so quickly, you growled at me," she blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. "You had that look in your eye; I thought you were going to kill me."

This time she could not help it, her hormones sent her emotions rocketing sky high and she needed to know that he wouldn't do it again. Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Abby, I could never hurt you, I... I..." he sniffed. "I love you Abby, I always have, and from that first day we met in the Forest of Dean I've always loved you." He closed the distance between them, hugging her. He sniffed, trying not to let his own tears fall, and then he sneezed, not once, not twice but three times in quick succession.

"Abby have you been anywhere near lilies?" He sneezed again, his allergies took hold again and the tears which had brimmed in his eyes earlier now fell freely.

"Yes, I used them as soap; is there a problem Connor?"

"They make my nose itch and run, and I start sneezing... Atishoo!"

"So you can't smell me... At all?"

Connor shook his head and sneezed again, "I'll have to wait until the smell has worn off before I can come near you."

Abby smiled, unknowingly she had used the lilies, and now Connor could not smell her at all. The flowery smell was masking her scent, and she began to hope that neither Pete, nor Ashley would not be able to smell her either.

Connor and Abby began to walk, his hand tentatively reached for hers, and smiling she let him, leaving her hand in his, letting his warmth spread from his hand, all the way up her elbow, the warm glow eventually reaching her heart. Before they reached the cave Connor pulled Abby to one side.

"Abby, I've ... I." He paused gathering his words, trying to find courage to tell her what had been on his mind. He looked into her eyes, and his heart melted. He gulped. "I love you... I have done ever since I met you, you're not just my key, you, are everything to me, if anything ever happened to you... I would just die."

Abby saw the unshed tears, and she could tell he was speaking the truth. He really did love her, and would never do anything to deliberately hurt her.

She closed the distance between them and pulled him closer for a kiss.

"I'm sorry Abby..." he stopped as Abby put a finger on his lips.

"Shut up Conn," and she kissed him once more.

Abby and Connor walked back, hand in hand. Abby was happy for once and she loved being able to be so close to Connor without him changing.  
Connor however, was suffering, his nose was running, his eyes were itchy, and the scent of the lilies was so over powering that he continued to sneeze.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

Abby had gone to the base of a huge waterfall to fill all the cans with fresh water. Looking up from the lush vegetation which surrounded her, she noticed Connor.

Connor was downstream collecting apples to eat.

Abby couldn't help admire his body, in the heat he had taken off his shirt and she could see his muscles ripple as he reached higher and higher for more fruit. Her mouth went dry at the sight. She had seen Connor scantily clad before, he often slept in just track-suit bottoms or on a really hot night - boxer shorts, but now she was looking at him differently. She hadn't realised how he had become more toned, his muscles more defined. Was this a result of him becoming a werewolf? Their eyes met and they smiled at each other from a distance.

She was so entranced by him that she did not notice the huge boulder that rolled down the hill towards her, faster and faster it rolled. Closer and closer towards her it tumbled, it's sheer weight and size was sure to crush her, if she did not get out of its path.

Suddenly Abby heard a rumbling sound that came closer and closer, the enormous rock was metres away from her, and she froze in terror, her legs having turning to jelly, she found she could not move.

Suddenly a pair of arms grabbed her and pulled her to safety, rolling on the grass out of its way, the rock, which looked as if it had been used in an Indiana Jones movie, thundered past. She shuddered and gasped as she looked at her saviour.

"Ashley?" She questioned, and was surprised when the semi-naked man who lay on top of her shook his head.

"Connor...? But you were downstream, there was no way you could have crossed the river that fast!"

"I don't know what happened there, where that super speed came from? One minute I was smiling at you from across the river, then I saw that rock rolling towards you, and I just had to do something... I don't know how I managed to pull you out of the way?" He furrowed his brows.

"Thank you," she breathed holding onto the back of his neck with one hand.

Abby could tell that even he didn't have the answers to what had happened there, nevertheless, she felt compelled to kiss him. He had saved her life.

"There's no thank you ... necessary, I saved your life because I wanted to, because I'd be lost without you, and because I love you." He gulped and moved away, assuming that she would push him away. He didn't want that, for him to be rejected by her again would be just too painful.

Abby bit her lip as she read his thoughts; constant rejection was beginning to take its toll. If she didn't accept Connor soon, he was going to lose interest altogether. They would fail in their mission, and Connor and his family would remain werewolves for the rest of their lives.

The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth.

She watched as Connor picked up a stone and threw it angrily at a black raven that sat on a nearby rock. She huffed; those birds were beginning to annoy her too!

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

A week later, Connor and Abby approached Pete and Morgana as they sat near the fire kissing. Morgana had checked the Artefact and deducted that the next anomaly needed to be opened where they had based their camp. Why they were still waiting was anybody's guess.

"Erm, dad... Have you got a minute... There's something I want to ask...?" Connor waited until he had his father's full attention.

"Cutter said that if Abby was my key I'd be able to hear her thoughts, just like she hears mine... I can't hear her, is there something we should know, something we should do or will it begin naturally?"

Ash snorted from his seat at the entrance of the cave where he was gutting a pig that they had caught. He knew what the answer was, but decided that he was going to stay out of this conversation. He picked up a stone and threw it at the ravens nearby.

Morgana blushed, a deep crimson, and she glanced at Abby and turned away quickly. Pete coughed and he stood up.

"Son, it's like this..." he took Connor by the elbow, and led him away. He took him out of the cave and away from the women. He didn't want Abby reading Connor's thoughts!

"Connor, for you to be able to hear Abby's thoughts and to really function properly together, you've got... To ... Erm..." He paused.  
"You've ... Got... To ... Erm ..." Pete looked around him to ensure that they weren't overheard. "...Connect!"

"I've got to connect with her? What do you mean?"

"You know ... Connect with her." Pete wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

It took a long moment, but eventually the penny dropped, and Connor understood what he was trying to say.

"Oh...!"

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

Connor and Abby were supposed to be searching for food; they stumbled upon a hidden cave, away from the one they were using as a base. It was too good an opportunity to miss, and Connor took hold of Abby's hand.

"Abby, you know I love you don't you?" She nodded smiling.

"Well... you know ... I ..." Connor huffed, trying to find the right words.

Knowing he was struggling, Abby murmured something under her breath and instantly she could hear his thoughts.

_'How do I tell her for this to work we've got to make love?'_

Abby smiled, and let Connor waffle various nonsensical words; she continued smiling until he settled for telling her that he loved her. Looking into his eyes, she realised that she really did love him, and making love with him was exactly what she wanted to do.

She stood for a moment wondering just when he had managed to creep into her heart... Just when had she fallen in love with him? Was it when he picked the brightest blooms to give to her? Was it when he rescued her from the terrible witch called Christina? Or was it when he saved her life? Or the way he comforted her after her nightmares?

Stepping towards him, she cupped his face, putting a thumb on his lips she silenced him; tentatively she leaned towards him, and moving her thumb pressed her lips gently to his.

Energy surged through his body like a heat wave, burning through his veins, and Connor was consumed with a desire for her, to take her there and then despite the tingling in his body that he had now associated with the change that was about to overcome him. Trying to control the change, he willed his body to stay in human form; he pulled her close, his hands on her waist keeping her close. He felt her body through the thin tunic she was wearing, and he kissed her passionately. His tongue pushed into her mouth exploring, dancing with hers, and tasting her sweetness.

Still kissing they entered the cave; Connor pushed her until her back hit a wall, his hands roaming possessively over her body.

"Abby, I love you so much..." he panted, and Abby understood what he was saying, the time was right, the cave was perfect, and they would not be disturbed.

They lay together for an age, until Connor changed back into his human form, and he released his hold on her as he slipped from her body.

'_What happened there?' _He thought knowing that Abby could hear him.

"You knotted, mainly dogs and wolves can do this, knotting secures them together during mating." Abby told him. She rolled towards him, wanting to see his face.

They lay beside each other content with just laying together, when suddenly Connor perked up.

"What was that Abby?"

"I didn't say anything..."

"Yes you did," Connor sat up. "I heard you!"

"Connor... I. Didn't. Say. Anything...!" Abby repeated. _'Can he hear my thoughts now? Did he hear me? I love you.'_

"You said that without moving your lips!" Connor voiced his worry. He thought back to his conversation with his father. In order for Abby to hear him they would have to connect.

Was this the beginning of their relationship together? Abby joining with him in this manner had somehow unlocked his mind to her. He could hear her, just as she could hear him.

_'Yes, yes it is...' _she thought smiling, knowing that he could hear her_. "And I love you more than ever!"_

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

Claudia knocked on the door to Jessica's room before entering. She was surprised to see Stephen standing over the young woman, a pillow in his hands.

"I was just adjusting the young lady's pillows..." Stephen smiled, his eyes glinting.

Jess's eyelids fluttered for a moment whilst Stephen plumped up the pillows to the best of his ability. Slowly the young fairy emerged from her slumber.

"How are you?" Claudia asked.

"Mmm..." Jess moaned. "Where am ...?" and she slipped once more into a deep sleep.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

**_Oh dear... What's happening to Jess?_**

**_I hope the scene between Abby and Connor made sense._**

**_Please let me know what you thought._**

**_Cyber cookies for everyone that reviews!_**


	13. Chapter 13

_**The Curse**_

_A/N__: Morgana, and Merlin Belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

_Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. _

_**Thanks go to CeffylGwyn, Musicgirl97, Auntineenah, Rubytronix, Mijo54, Moura1371, Prawn Crackers, WeatherRains and YouHaveLovelyHair for their Awesome reviews - love to all of you.** _

* * *

**_Chapter 13_**

**_._**

Pete took Connor and Ash away from their little cave one night.

It was the second full moon they had experienced; they had been in this wilderness for two months now. The sky was clear, and the moon was bright, and Abby couldn't help but notice the moon as it looked so wonderful. She just wished Connor was here to share its beauty.

Suddenly she heard the sad call of a lonely wolf. The pitiful howl sent a shiver down her spine and she turned to Morgana who sat further inside the cave. She was stirring a pot that was suspended magically in mid-air, gently simmering on the small fire that they had built. The contents looked as if it would only feed two and Abby wondered if Pete had taken the brothers to go hunting.

"Where have the boys gone?" Abby questioned.

"It's a full moon; and they've gone to the hills, to ensure our safety..." She stood and putting down the ladle which she held, she joined Abby at the entrance of the cave. "Tonight with the full moon, they will transform, they are unable to resist this change, and they'll become wolves."

Suddenly the sound of another wolf rang through the air, "I hear you Pete, I hear you..." Morgana whispered wistfully.

"Don't you wish you could be with them sometimes?"

Morgana nodded. "If they saw us, they'd rip us apart, but...," Morgana's voice trailed off as thoughts rushed through her mind.

"Maybe we could..." Both women said the same thing at once, their thoughts obviously leading to the same conclusion.

Morgana smiled knowing that this could be done; they could be with their partners, without fearing they could be hurt. The men would not hurt them if...

Morgana spoke to Abby and together they muttered an incantation under their breath and the spell began to manifest. Running out of the cave, Morgana found Pete's scent and she began to track it.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

The moon had risen a short while ago and Pete, Ash and Connor had all changed into wolves, the transformation a result of the brilliant white disc that shone in the sky. They did not feel the urge to hunt tonight, and so they stood on an outcrop of rocks that formed a high ledge which jutted out from the rest of the forest, and looked up at the clear night sky. Pete had instructed Morgana to cast a protection spell upon the cave, so that they would not be unintentionally hurt during the unpredictable night.

Connor was miserable; his heart ached, he wanted to be with Abby, he wanted so much to be with her, to talk to her, converse with her, but now he would have to wait until morning until he could be reunited with her. Standing on the hilltop with the moon behind him, he let out a doleful howl, and hoped that Abby could hear him.

His father padded up to him, staring into Connor's sad eyes, he howled out long and loud, his unusual voice ringing out in the countryside.

Connor and Pete stared into each other's eyes, and Connor realised that even though he could not be with his love, he still had his unusual family surrounding him. Staring up at the shining orb which had caused his altered state, he lay down on the rock and prepared to sleep.

Connor had been dozing when he heard the sounds. His head snapped up, his ears pricking up trying to locate the source of the disturbance.

Pete leapt up on all fours, he had heard it too and he stood listening to the sounds of the wilderness. He barked as he heard it again and Connor and Ash joined their father as he began to run through the undergrowth trying to find the creatures they were looking for.

Pete and Connor were elated as they laid eyes upon their keys.

Connor immediately looked at Abby and his heart leapt with joy, he sniffed at her... Apple Crumble... Gorgeous! She was here, and even her unusual appearance, white fur that shimmered in the moonlight, she was breathtaking. He padded over to her and began to lick her face, his tongue savouring the taste of her. They nuzzled each other for an age, licking face neck and throat, not wanting to stop.

Pete greeted Morgana in much the same way as Connor greeted Abby, the smell of red wine giving him shivers. He could not change back and kiss her properly, but he nuzzled her. So many thoughts coursed through their minds, they talked to each other telepathically their voices short yips, soft barks and growls.

Seeing his fellow wolves with their respective partners, Ash felt bad, he had no-one, no-one to share his thoughts with, no one to share his pain and sorrow, no one to greet him in his moment of need.

Morosely he ambled over to his father, and nudged his way between him and Morgana.

Pete barked angrily, he had been enjoying this moment of reunion, and his son had disturbed him. He growled at Ash, who sat back on his haunches and howled desperately.

It took a moment of hearing Ash, for Pete to realise what he was trying to say. Turning towards his eldest son, he licked his cheek, and nuzzled him softly. He yapped gently in his ear, an acknowledgement that Ash could go off to go wherever he wanted.

Pete barked as Ash sauntered off. He hoped that his son understood his instruction to stay safe and to be back at dawn.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Ashley blinked. He padded across to the river; and gazed at his altered reflection in the water and looked at his abnormal features. He saw an animal stare back at him, a wolf with beautiful silvery fur, amber eyes, and a leather thong with a golden ring which dangled from around his neck.

His muzzle wrinkled as the most delicious smell wafted down the stream. The gorgeous aroma made his nerves tingle; made him want to track down the lovely smell of something that had just been taken out of the oven.

He growled with desire, the fragrance was so delicious, so alluring, so tantalising. He could not help himself, the urge to track the aroma became too much to ignore.

He began to run through the darkness sticking close to the trees that grew by the riverbank. Soon he arrived at the source of the scintillating smell.

He hid in the trees at the edge of the small pool of water. The waterfall cascaded down from the top of the hill, and flowed down the river, it seemed to create a large lake at the bottom, an area where the water calmed before rushing down the torrid river.

It was here that he saw her, and she was just as beautiful as he remembered. The girl called Mohini that he had fallen in love with at school.

She was completely naked and had long black hair that trailed down her back to her waist, her lightly tanned skin that was too natural to be a result of sitting in the sun. She had her back to him as she washed her hair under the waterfall, and his breath caught in his chest as his eyes travelled over her body, she was slim, yet she had curves in all the right places.

He remembered the last time they had met, how he had kissed her, how she tasted and her wonderful scent. He had wanted her then, and he wanted her now. Desire coursed through his veins, throbbed through his body, and settled at a point just below his gut.

Stealthily he crept through the woodland closer and closer. He watched as she turned, her hands covering the private parts of her body, and she reached for a towel that hung from a nearby branch.

He crept closer and closer, eyeing her as she clicked her fingers, a thick mist surrounded her body and when it disappeared he could see she was fully clothed. This did not surprise him. He had once caught Morgana in a similar situation and his father's girlfriend had dressed in a similar fashion.

The girl's body was still wet and the fabric of the breeches and tunic clung to her perfect figure. She was looking in his direction, yet she seemed to look right through him. Maybe she thought the person watching her was human, and in his animal form he was oblivious to her.

He became bolder and began to stride in her direction.  
"_Mohini... I want you so badly..."_ he thought.

"Who's there?" She shouted, almost as if she could hear him. "How do you know my name?"

She began to back away, and then she turned and ran, her hands covering her ears.

_"Mohini...! Stop...!"_ He thought, wishing that he could change into his human form. He knew that the moon's influence would keep him in this body until morning. Yet he wanted to talk to her so badly that he could not stop himself from chasing after her.

She raced through the woodland towards the tower.

He chased after her, with every stride he gained on the distance which separated them. Suddenly, she transformed into a bird, there was a flapping of wings, and she flew away.

_"Stop ...! Mohini! Stop ...!" _He thought.

But there was no way she could have heard him... Or was there?

He tried to follow her, but she flew high up into the air, and all he could do was watch as she landed on a distant tower.

Miserably Ash sat back on his haunches and howled desperately, hoping that his pack could hear him, hoping that his father and brother could hear his lament. Soon he could hear singing. Knowing he would not be missed for a while he set off to find the owner of such a beautiful voice. He followed her crooning voice for as long as he could, unaware he was being watched by hundreds of pairs of eyes.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

The undergrowth was thick and he leapt through the brambles, thorns snagged his fur, as he followed the melody. Eventually he came to a high mound of earth, and climbing on top he was able to see the surrounding region. In the distance he saw a tall tower and instantly he knew the person who sang was inside the tall spire that reached into the sky.

Before long he had arrived at the base of the huge stone tower. Walking around, he tried to find an entrance, a door with which he could use to gain entry to the building. Not finding anything he could use, he settled for calling out to the female voice. He barked up towards the window of the tower and the singing stopped.

He strained his eyes trying to see inside. The moon was high in the sky, and all that he could see was an outline of a maiden, most probably the same woman who had been singing so serenely.

He lay down next to a tree, one paw on top of the other, and rested his head upon them. Sleep evaded him, and all he could think about was the girl he remembered, the one he affectionately called Mo. A short while later, the singing continued and he sighed happily as he heard the melodious voice once more.

An hour later he heard someone approaching. Quickly he hid amongst the trees, in his animal form he was just another woodland creature. He watched as a strange man approached. He wore a black cloak over a green tunic. His hair was greying and very short. His short hairstyle seemed out of place for this era, it looked too well kept to belong to medieval England.

He watched as he climbed a tree and pulling a vine from almost nowhere he catapulted himself onto the roof top.

Ash marked the tree the only way he knew how, with his own scent, and then he waited for the strange man to leave. He knew he could be waiting all night, but he sat and waited. Briefly he thought about his father and brother, their respective partners, and how he felt like a thorn between two roses. Pete, Morgana were definitely an item; and Connor and Abby couldn't keep their eyes off each other, it wouldn't be long before they couldn't keep their hands off each other either. His memories eventually began to resurface in his mind and he recalled his sad childhood.

Ashley had hated growing up, his time spent without a mother figure in his life, his father and Claudia being his only carers. He was often left on his own or with the Cuttershall's. Ashley had never really connected with Nick Cutter; the man was always aloof from him and was always researching. Claudia; stepped in on more than one occasion to look after him as he grew up, but most times she too would get involved with Nick, and on some occasions she disappeared too.

As a young boy Ashley could only ever remember, that during summer holidays he was sent to live with the Cuttershall family, and most of the time he was looked after by servants, and the boarding school for the rest of the school term. He felt that he was almost an orphan, not receiving the love of either parent.

Soon he began to think of his time at boarding school. He could not remember much of his father as he grew up, his father, although he took him to some wonderful places, would always disappear every fifteen days, a strange occurrence until Ashley left school at eighteen. During this time, he and his father spent a lot of time together, and he was told about the family curse. A story he didn't quite believe until one day, he had been bitten by a dog, the action brought on the transformation of him into a werewolf, and then he was told of his father's weird ability to change into a werewolf!

Another thing Ashley remembered about his father was that Pete always seemed to have a new girlfriend hanging off his arm every time he saw him and Morgana had only come along as recently as a year ago. It was Pete's longest stint with a girlfriend, and this time Ashley seemed to know that she was the one for him. They seemed to complement each other perfectly, and he had never seen Pete so happy, or in love.

Nevertheless, seeing Pete happy grated on his nerves, how could his father be so happy, whilst he, Ashley, was not? Surely his father could see how much he needed him? How much he had missed him whilst growing up? Pete's absence in Ash's life had left a rather a large hole, one that left Ash feeling bitter about his life, his father and the curse which had haunted their family for generations.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

_Ashley's memories of school, though bitter regarding his father and being left, were happy too, made happy by the appearance of a young and very pretty girl he had known as Mo. _

_Ashley had been in his final year at school; and he had just turned 16. He had been in the busy school canteen, sitting down to lunch with his friends when he had noticed a young girl crying. He had watched as a group of older boys teased and upset the girl. Not wanting to sit around watching any longer, Ash, together with his friends had challenged the bully, and the boy seeing that he was out numbered had left the girl alone, but not before tossing the girl's lunch tray out of her hands and onto the floor. The pretty girl's face screwed up at the sight of her spoilt meal, and she began to weep in earnest._

_"I don't have any money to buy more, and I missed breakfast this morning." She sobbed large tears rolling down her pretty face._

_"I'm sorry, my lunch is pre-paid, dad pays the bill at the end of each month, and I've already had today's quota. But you're welcome to share it with me..." Ash offered._

_She introduced herself as Mohini, and whilst she didn't eat his corned beef sandwiches, she did take his apple. A fruit that Ash had picked up but didn't really want to eat._

_Ashley and Mohini - or Mo as she preferred to be called, met regularly for lunch, the bullies, noticing Ashley's presence kept away, and left her alone. Ash and Mo were in different year groups, he was older than her by three years, and so their classes were never together._

_Mohini enjoyed his company; and she found herself looking forward to meeting him during the day also. She knew that Ash was a border at the school, she attended the school during the day and her father picked her up every afternoon at 4.00 o'clock. She spoke to her own parents begging them to let her stay overnight, but her parents were very strict and would not dream of letting their one and only daughter stay overnight at the private school._

_In the weeks that followed Ash found out a lot about Mo's family. He found out that she came from a Hindu family, and whilst having a boyfriend was not out of the question, she told him that she knew her father would object to a serious relationship between them. _

_Mohini and Ash began spending as much time in school as they could with each other, she would arrive early in the morning, and join him whilst he had breakfast, then after first period, they would meet at break, at lunch and afternoon break too, and if they could manage it, they would meet briefly after school whilst she waited to be picked up._

_He found himself looking forward to seeing her, and wished that she would stay for the very long evenings._

_One day Mo untruthfully told her father she was enrolling in extra Maths classes. Her father did not mind and let her stay for a few more hours. He didn't know that Mo was spending the extra time to be with her boyfriend, had he known this, he certainly would have been very angry, she was his only daughter and he intended for her to do well at school._

_One night Mo's father arrived early to pick up his daughter, and that was when he saw the pair together._

_Ash and Mo were by the tennis courts, and whilst the courts themselves were shielded from the road, people could still see through the bare trees during the winter months._

_Ashley and Mohini sat together his arm around her shoulders, holding her close. They were chatting about where their relationship was taking them, what they wanted to do._

_"Mo, I wish you could stay for longer. Why can't you stay overnight?"_

_"My father will be unhappy, he will just not agree that I should be allowed to spend even one night at school. I know my father, and he will not change his mind."_

_"But I want to be able to spend more time with you... Will he not agree to me coming home with you either?" Ashley pondered._

_"I'm afraid not, I don't think he'd be too happy if I introduced you as my boyfriend, considering my young age." Noticing his frown, she continued. "You're sixteen, and I have only just turned thirteen, I really think he wouldn't be happy... I'm supposed to be concentrating on my studies!"_

_She bowed her head in despair and a lock of hair fell across her face._

_She was aware of Ashley reaching up and moving the hair from her face, the way he tipped her head up with one finger and leaning forward, gently kissing her._

_Warmth spread through her, starting with her lips, to the backs of her eyes to the tips of her ears, and through the rest of her body, she let the sensation sweep through her. Then she heard something else. It was very faint, but she was sure she heard him. 'I love you Mo.'_

_"Hmm...?" She asked, pulling back a little to look into his eyes._

_"Nothing, - I - I didn't say anything." Ash stuttered; bewildered at the way her eyes flashed orange for a moment._

_Ashley couldn't really explain what had happened after that, the way she had run away from him, or why she had not come back to school afterwards. Ashley had never felt more alone as he did then._

_Sadly he finished school; he shared some of his pain with a few close friends, and began concentrating on his studies. It was years later, when he joined the police force; that he tried to find out what had happened to Mo._

_His stomach twisted into knots when he learned of what had happened. _

_Her parents had insisted that she be transferred to another school, and at a moment's notice had not only moved from their home, but relocated in another city completely. There she had enlisted in a private school until she was eighteen. It was just before her nineteenth birthday that she had been kidnapped by a group of thugs, never to be seen again. _

_Mohini, her mother and her father had been driving home when the car had been involved in a collision with another car. Her father and mother had both died at the scene, and Mohini had been taken to the hospital, but she had vanished from there. Her last known movements were recorded on a security video, showing her being pulled violently out of the hospital by a strange looking blonde haired man, most probably against her will. _

_Ashley's heart broke, that was the last time anybody had ever seen her alive, the date on the recording was a year ago, and nobody had seen her since._

_Speaking to his supervisor, he had tried to re-open the case, but to no avail. Mohini Shah was one of thousands of missing persons. Trying to find her was like trying to find a needle in a haystack._

_He tried looking for other Mohini Shah's around the world, each time coming to a dead end. It seemed as if the Mohini Shah he was looking for did not exist._

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

It was morning before the strange man left, he watched as the man climbed down a vine, and soft singing could be heard once more. With the sunrise Ash was no longer ruled by the full moon, and quickly he changed back into his human form. He had now mastered his inner wolf and he no longer lost his clothes with each change. Quickly he used the same form of entry as the man had done the night before; he had climbed up to the tower via a vine that had been left hanging outside a window.

Ash stared around the small room that he found himself in. It was a strange round room filled with the strangest of statues. Very carefully he edged around the carved stone statues.

He walked around each one slowly looking at them; whoever had made these statues was incredibly talented. Each idol was different; the images cast in stone were so beautiful, almost as if the artist had cast a spell on an unfortunate soul turning them into stone. He wondered why they were kept here in the tower and not displayed throughout the building.

He turned to look at the intricate stone carvings and he sauntered up to one in particular. This one was an age of a woman dressed in a soldier's uniform. Coming from the twenty first century, he did not think it was odd. Had he stopped to think, he would have realised how wrong he had been. One thing he did notice about the woman was water seemed to be trickling down her cheek.

Turning around to look at all of the statues he realised something... They were all pointing.

What they were pointing to was not clear for they all pointed in different directions; and Ash was thoroughly confused.

_"Mohini... Mohini ... Are you here?"_ He thought.

"Who...? Who's there?" She called back.

_"It's me... Ash, you remember me don't you? We were at school together?" He paused.  
"Please say you remember me?"_ If she was his key, she would definitely be able to hear him.

She had beautiful long dark hair that shone in the light, she had left nearly all of it loose, except for two pencil thin braids which started at her temples and met at the back of her head and continued down.

She had lightly tanned skin, and Ash knew that this gorgeous creature was of Asian descent.  
Her simple royal blue dress was very plain, coming in at the bodice and then flaring out reaching to her feet. She wore very little jewellery, tiny little studs in her delicate ears, and a simple chain around her neck.

She regarded him carefully, heard his unspoken words, and wondered why she could hear him when his lips had not moved.

"Ash...? Ashley Armstrong...? Is that really you?"

He nodded his reply.  
_"Yes, it's me alright..." he thought._

"Oh god this is so strange... I can hear your voice, but your lips aren't moving. Why is that?"

Ashley simply smiled. _"Magic ... Because you're my key, my partner, and my one and only true love."_ He thought, knowing that she could read his mind, allowing her access to his innermost thoughts. _"I love you Mo, I always have, and I think I always will..."_

Ash stared at her from amongst the statues. She was the more beautiful than he remembered, her voice was soft and sweet and she smiled shyly, he was entranced by her beauty so much that all he could do was stand and stare, mesmerised by her. He thought about leaving her here whilst he fetched his father and brother.

"Please don't go..." She called out to him, reading his mind. "Please don't go... I'm so very lonely up here... I could do with some company." She looked into his eyes and pleaded with him.

Ash looked back at her, slowly he began to understand this young woman's plight, she had been locked up in this tower, most probably against her will and she had been alone for a long time. He wished his vocal chords would co-operate with him, so that he could talk to her and ask her why she had been locked up in this manner, why she could not escape from her prison, for it did not look as if she was guarded day and night.

He stared at her tilting his head.

"Yes... It's me... I've been forced to live in this tower for years now. This witch called Christina had me kidnapped and locked in is tower. She's cast a terrible spell on me..." Mohini sat by the window, she became upset and began to cry.

Ash could not bear watching his childhood friend weep, and he walked up to her, and tapped her on the shoulder.

"No don't touch me! ... Oh no...! Too late ... You see Christina has enchanted me. Not only do people see a hideous old woman, but anyone who comes near me, or touches me turns to stone." Mohini gasped.

Ash found he could not move; he was frozen solid.

Ash realised now, the other statues were not pointing at all. They had all frozen in time when they had reached out to touch her.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

The Fairy Princess had been so traumatised that she took a full three days to recover from her ordeal. She had not only been kidnapped and tortured by Christina, but held against her will, and locked away in a cavern deep in the hills.

"How are you feeling?" Claudia asked as she walked up to the fairy who sat up in bed.

"Good thank you." Jessica stretched, one of her wings was broken, and was slowly healing, but with a broken wing, she was incomplete, her magic would not work, and she was useless to those around her.

"Do you remember anything about why you were locked up?"

Jessica shook her head, she didn't remember anything.

"When you were brought here you kept mumbling, do not trust Steven's son? What did you mean by that?"

"Did I? I must have been delirious. I don't know anyone called Steven."

"So what's the last thing you remember?"

Jess looked pensive for a moment. "Being kidnapped by Christina... She hurt me, broke my wing... All I remember seeing; was a green dragon, and then nothing after that."

"Well I'll leave you to rest, if there's anything you need, anything at all; just ring the bell by your bedside." Claudia pointed to a tiny silver hand bell by her bedside.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

The chef had just prepared a drink for Jessica, and all he had to do was take it to her. He stood outside her bedroom door the tray on one hand, the grandfather clock in the grand hall downstairs began to chime the late hour. He tore open a sachet with his teeth, and dropped the contents inside, picking up the glass with a napkin he swirled the contents around. This way if anyone checked for fingerprints the only ones they would find was the ones left by the cook.

He knocked on the door and went in.

"Jessica, nice to see you, I hope you are feeling well?" He asked politely.

"Yes thank you, I'm feeling much better, the doctor says I should be able to use my wings soon." Jess beamed bouncing in her chair.

"Have you regained your memory, about your time with Christina?" He questioned trying to make polite conversation.

"No... Doctor says I shouldn't worry, though, things will become clearer soon."

"Good to hear, the doctor says you should drink this, it'll give you strength, and help you get better." He raised the tray that he held.

"Just put it on the table over there, I'll drink it in a moment." Jess babbled turning her attention to the book in her hand.

He heard the bell summoning him to the kitchens, and leaving the drink on the table, he left.

Jess smiled as she picked up the glass and laughed at something in her book, and carried on reading.

.

-o-o-o-

**_._**

* * *

_**Well... Jess is about to drink something horrid! **_

_**Becker has not been rescued yet!**_

_**Cyber Cookies for anyone who can correctly guess the name of Jess's saviour!**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**The Curse**_

_Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. _

_**Thanks go to CeffylGwyn, Musicgirl97, Auntineenah, Rubytronix, Mijo54, Moura1371, Prawn Crackers, WeatherRains and YouHaveLovelyHair for their Awesome reviews - love to all of you.** _

_(Mohini means enchantress to those who are interested.)_

_Warning! This chapter mentions something that sounds very much like self harm - Try not to worry, the next chapter will be posted in a day or two. -Sorry for the short chapter._

* * *

**_Chapter 14_**

_The chef had just prepared a drink for Jessica, and all he had to do was take it to her. He stood outside her bedroom door the tray on one hand, the grandfather clock in the grand hall downstairs began to chime the late hour. He tore open a sachet with his teeth, and dropped the contents inside, picking up the glass with a napkin he swirled the contents around. This way if anyone checked for fingerprints the only ones they would find was the ones left by the cook._

_He knocked on the door and went in._

_"Jessica, nice to see you, I hope you are feeling well?" He asked politely._

_"Yes thank you, I'm feeling much better, the doctor says I should be able to use my wings soon." Jess beamed bouncing in her chair._

_"Have you regained your memory, about your time with Christina?" He questioned trying to make polite conversation._

_"No... Doctor says I shouldn't worry, though, things will become clearer soon."_

_"Good to hear, the doctor says you should drink this, it'll give you strength, and help you get better." He raised the tray that he held._

_"Just put it on the table over there, I'll drink it in a moment." Jess babbled turning her attention to the book in her hand._

_He heard the bell summoning him to the kitchens, and leaving the drink on the table, he left._

_Jess smiled as she picked up the glass and laughed at something in her book, and carried on reading._

* * *

**_._**

**_-o-o-o-_**

**_._**

Jess raised her glass once more, preparing to take a sip of the purple liquid which looked like blackcurrant, when suddenly the glass was pushed out of her hand and it fell into a pot of ferns. She looked down to see who the insolent person was who had caused her to spill her medication.

"Begging your pardon Miss, you don't want to drink that Miss," Rex squeaked in a childlike voice. He stood at her side, looking like a naughty little street urchin. His sweet face was dirty from cooking, - the cook preferred using hot coals, and one of Rex's duties was to ensure that the stoves were kept burning.

"But the doctor told me I had to drink that!" Jess chastised the little elf, disappointed over her spilled beverage.

Rex the Elf shook his head.

"You don't want to drink that Miss ... Look ...!" He pointed to where the liquid had soaked into the soil.

The once green ferns were now withered and dead. Jess gasped as she saw the greenery crumble into dust and die, her hands went up to cover her mouth trying desperately to hide her horror and dismay. Quickly she crept off her chair, knelt down to the little elf's level, and hugged him.

"Thank you, thank you, you saved my life!" She whispered a horrified tone in her voice.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

Connor and Abby walked lazily behind Pete and Morgana following them. On this, the night of the full moon, the women had become wolves in order to join their partners. Soon it became apparent that they were heading back to the cave.

Suddenly Connor heard a noise in the undergrowth. Snapping his head up he saw a wild pig, his eyes widened with hunger, his werewolf blood began to boil, and Connor began to race after the boar, with Abby following him.

Connor was fuelled by the moon, an eagerness to hunt coursed through his veins, and he began to salivate. He could now even smell the pig; the scent of its fear hung in the air, a strange odour, its horror of being hunted down was like a huge rush of adrenalin, making Connor wilder, feral, and uncharacteristically vicious.

He raced through the brush and as the hog tumbled down a hidden embankment, he leapt over the swine and stopped in front of the frightened animal. The small beast squealed in terror, flanked by two wolves, with Connor to one side and Abby to the other, it was cornered with nowhere to go.

Connor growled menacingly, his sharp teeth on show for full effect, he watched as the animal shivered and shook where it cowered against the large overgrown root of a tree. The urge to hunt and kill was too great for Connor to ignore, and he pounced on the poor beast, killing it instantly.

_"Connor... Did you have to?"_ Abby chastised telepathically, silently she padded away.

Connor was too engrossed in his first kill to notice Abby's sadness. He began to rip the animal into shreds, gnawing away at the animals bones. The beast's blood seemed to quench his thirst, and having ripped off a limb he ambled over to Abby with a leg in his mouth. He dropped the joint in front of her, licked his chops and tried to smile.

_"Abby... I brought this for you..."_ he thought, hoping she would read his mind.

_"Connor..."_ she sniffed, _"Did you really have to do that?"_

He didn't understand what she was trying to say. It wasn't as if he had chosen to kill the pig, it was a result of the werewolf blood flowing through his veins. He watched as she got up and slowly sauntered away.

_"Abby what's wrong?"_ He thought as he began to lope after her.

He ran to catch up with her, he had noticed that she was crying and wondered if it was because of him. After all he had killed the innocent pig.

Abby stopped for a moment and looked at him. Blood still coated his jowls and dripped down his fur.

_"How could you Conn? What had that poor creature done to hurt you?"_ Fresh tears began to trickle down her face. She morphed into her human form and began to run away from him.

Suddenly there was a loud creaking noise and one moment Abby was in front of him, and the next she had disappeared. He ran to the point where she had vanished and looking down, he noticed she had fallen into a man-made pit. It had been dug especially to catch animals foraging in the forest; it had been lined with sharp pointed branches, ready to kill any unfortunate beast which tumbled inside.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

.

Connor howled for help, his doleful cry frightening a raven which sat in a tree nearby. Connor hoped Pete would hear him. Carefully he climbed down into the pit, trying to avoid the spikes which covered the ground.

Connor was devastated, Abby lay on the ground where she had fallen, a large sharp branch protruding through her body. Connor was sure she had punctured a lung.

Gingerly he nudged her... No response. He put his abnormal face close to hers and was pleased when he felt her breath upon his fur. He slowly began to cry, big fat tears rolled down his muzzle.

It was mid-June and the longer days meant that he did not have to wait too long before the sun came up, and Connor returned to his normal body. Carefully, lovingly, he picked her up and carried her limp form back to the stone cave, the sharp wood still wedged into her body.

"Dad...! Dad...! Dad...! Help me!" He sobbed.

Pete walked from the back of the cave where he and Morgana had been asleep after their nocturnal activities. He rubbed his eyes and took in the sight before him.

Connor looked dishevelled blood stained his clothes and Pete hoped that his son had not lost control and attacked his partner.

"We were running through the woods, all I wanted to do was talk to her, and then she started running, she fell down a pit and this branch went straight through her..." More tears rolled down his face.

"It's my fault, it's all my fault, I killed her, I'm the reason she's dead..."

Connor wept as he carefully placed Abby down on their makeshift bed.

"It's my fault." Slowly with as much energy as he could muster, he began thumping his head on the ground where he knelt. "It's no use; I'm never going to be able to complete this quest."

"Connor stop, I need you to listen, I'm going to need you to do something for me. Pete can you fetch me some water," Morgana instructed.

Pete took the pan from her hand and ran as fast as he could to the stream. Filling it he ran back, upon reaching the cave, he found Connor sitting with his back and head resting against the wall, a look of complete defeat upon his face, Abby's head in his lap, but what alarmed Pete the most, was the fact that he had slit his wrist, and it lay upon Abby's chest soaking her shirt.

Tears still flowed down his face and the boy seemed inconsolable.

* * *

.

-o-o-o-

_**.**_

* * *

_**Oh NO! I hear you cry...**_

_**What has Connor done?**_

_**All will be revealed in the next chapter which should be up in a few days or so.**_


	15. Chapter 15

_**The Curse**_

_A/N__: Morgana, and Merlin Belong to the BBC, and the Other Characters, (including Ashley) whilst are actors, have all been created by me and belong to me._

_Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine. Thank you to all those who have reviewed chapter 14, and if you missed it, I suggest a recap before reading this one._

_** I wanted to post this chapter as soon as I could, so here goes, an explanation into Connor's behaviour.**_

* * *

**_Chapter 15_**

Pete was concerned when he saw the blood slowly dripping out from Connor's wrist; and he rushed forward.  
"Connor...! What are you doing...?" Pete exclaimed, worried that Connor had tried to take his own life.

"Wait!" Morgana shouted. "Abby's alive, but she's lost a lot of blood; this is this only way of saving her life. I can't magic up an intravenous drip, she needs blood, and this is the best way."

"But how do you know if the blood will match?"

"I checked; there's a spell. It's complicated to explain, but trust me. She's going to live!" She took the pan of water from him and bent down beside Abby's prone form. Gently she pulled a strand of hair from Abby's head; popping it in the water she muttered an incantation.

"Iachau ..." The water glowed golden before becoming clear once more.

"She needs something stronger to make this work," Morgana muttered and she looked over to a book that Pete noticed lying beside Abby. "She needs the blood of a hero."

"Here take mine..." Pete proffered his wrist.

Morgana shook her head.

"Connor...? You've saved her life before haven't you?" She asked.

"Well, I saved her from Mer-creatures once ... And if you call pulling her away from a rolling boulder that was about to crush her, saving her life, then I guess I have."

"Yes... That's exactly what I mean! You're her hero!" She reached for Connor's hand and noticed that he hissed, but didn't cry out in pain.

Morgana checked the book reciting the incantation, then holding Connor's already dripping hand over the pan she carefully counted out seven drops of blood, and allowed them to drip inside. The water turned red, deep purple, blue, and then black. It bubbled without the aid of heat, and steam inexplicably rose from the cool mixture.

Reaching for some herbs that she had gathered she dropped them into the boiling cold mixture. The medication stopped bubbling and turned clear once more. Checking that the remedy was still cool enough she snapped her fingers and a spoon appeared in her hand.

Carefully she spooned a small amount into Abby's mouth.

Abby wheezed and moved her head.

"Pete, I need you to remove the rest of that branch."

Carefully Pete complied, he hated taking orders especially from a female, but, this young girl was not just Connor's girlfriend, she was part of his growing family, part of his pack, and he would do anything to protect her. Getting a firm grip on the branch, he pulled, gently easing out the wood from her body.

Blood gushed from the gaping wound, and Morgana knew that if they didn't work fast, Abby was going to die.

"Quick Pete, fill her lungs with air."

"What about me? Is there anything I can do?" Connor jumped up concerned more for his partner, than his bleeding and hurting hand.

"Hold this pot; carefully pour some of the liquid onto her injuries."

Connor did as he was told, and slowly her injuries began to heal, her more serious internal injuries to her punctured lungs first, working its way outward.

Pete pinched her nose, tipping her head back; he blew into her mouth, filling her lungs with as much air as he could.

"Connor ... Before this wound seals completely... I need you to put your hands on her body; we need to take out all the bad blood."

Connor shook as he splayed his hands on her abnormally cool torso, felt Morgana's hands on top of his and felt a strange sensation as Morgana began chanting. He understood this for what it was - Very strong; and very powerful, almost dark, magic.

Something cold and wet began to seep through his fingers. A dark brown, almost black, gooey liquid oozed between his fingers. Slowly he realised what it was, the thought struck him in the chest, just as the branch had struck Abby as she had tumbled down the incline... Stale blood, if this had stayed in her lungs she would most certainly have drowned.

Moments later Morgana poured more of the medication onto Abby's chest. The wound knitted and melted away, when Abby came round she would not know how close she had come to death, a scar would not be visible and she could carry on as normal.

Morgana poured the magical healing potion onto Connor's wrist; once she was satisfied that Abby had not lost too much blood. Then patiently they waited for Abby to come round.

Connor sat miserably next to Abby, exhausted, pale and very weak.

"Here, you need to eat," Morgana held a plate of stew in front of him. She continued when Connor stared at the plate dejectedly, "You need to build up your strength, a lot of your blood now runs through Abby's veins, and you need to replenish your own blood levels... Eat!"

Slowly Connor took the plate of food that Morgana held in front of him. He didn't feel like eating at all; not whilst Abby lay helpless and unconscious next to him, but he understood what Morgana told him, and taking a bite, slowly he began to chew his food.

Connor looked after her day and night, spooning more of the medication into her mouth, mopping her brow, ensuring that she was comfortable. The healing properties of the potion were working and soon Abby would be up and about.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Abby's eyelids fluttered, she felt as if she flattened by a bulldozer, almost as if she had been wrung out to dry, her chest felt heavy, and she struggled for breath.  
Looking around, she noticed, she had been brought back to the cave. It was sometime during the night because she could see the stars and the dark blue sky. Connor lay besides her sleeping peacefully, his long lashes lay on his pale cheeks. She smiled briefly; he had the look of an angel as he slept; her own personal guardian angel.

Feeling tired, and not having the energy to do anything, she dozed off again.

The next time she awoke, it was sometime during the day, and sunlight streamed through at the entrance of the cave. She felt a hand move her growing hair away from her face.

"Hey... You're awake..." Connor crooned smiling briefly.

He looked different, and Abby wondered what had caused his eyes to glisten. Was Connor...? No he wouldn't. The last time she had seen him cry was the day that Cutter passed away, or when they thought he has passed away. But still there they were, unshed tears brimming in his eyes.

Abby wanted to know what he was thinking, but she was still very tired and although she tried very hard to conjure the spell which would open his thoughts to her, she failed, and as the spell had not worked, he could not hear her either.

Abby felt him as he ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek, stroking her gently, the action soothing her giving her strength. She tried to sit up, her chest hurt and she had difficulty breathing. She couldn't remember much of what had happened last night, only that Connor had killed a pig and that she had run away from him. She didn't remember coming back to the cave, or how she got there.

Morgana had been watching from a distance, and she noticed Abby's panting. She came over quickly, and knowing what the problem was she urged Connor to help move her to outside the cave.

Although she didn't want to be carried, she found herself in Connor's strong arms, very steadily being taken outside the cave. As Connor very carefully set her down, she wheezed again, her breathing heavy and laboured.

Morgana brought the healing potion and giving Abby a measure of the sweet liquid, she conjured another spell. The effects of this spell became clear as Abby began to cough violently.

Morgana reached into the air just in front of Abby's chest, she grabbed at something that wasn't there, lifted it, drew it up and threw it to the floor. As she did so, Abby coughed even more, and threw up the sticky brown, lumpy, contents of her chest onto Connor's tunic.

Connor pushed his thoughts of disgust away, he removed his dirty shirt and throwing it on the ground; he hugged Abby and reached around her rubbing her back, as Abby coughed up more of the gunk that had coated her lungs onto the ground below.

Sipping on more of the healing potion, Abby began feeling better, and her body was now clear of any stale blood. Her breathing returned to normal, and she began to move around by herself. Reading Connor's mind she realised how close she had come to dying and was pleased that Morgana's powerful magic had worked, and she wondered if Morgana could teach her, so that she would be able to save someone else's life that way one day.

In the distance, a creature watched the quartet with beady little eyes, it had been watching for a while now, and it would continue to watch as long as necessary.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Entering the cosy cave, they saw Pete; he sat on a large rock, his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands.

He looked up at Connor, "Have you seen Ash?"

Connor shook his head.

"Can you feel Ash likes he feels you?"

"No... Why do you ask?" He queried shaking his head negatively.

"Because Ash went out two nights ago and he hasn't returned. I'm getting worried about him."

He stood up and began to pace the cave that had become their home; he was becoming agitated about his eldest son. The last time he had seen Ash, he was heading into the woods the night of the full moon. It was now mid-day and he paced around the cave.

This morning he had been collecting wood, now he was worried, Ash still had not returned from the previous night's foray into the wilderness. He spoke of his fears to Morgana, of how he was worried about his son.

Together they decided the best thing to do was to go and look for him, and it was best done as a group. They packed up their stuff, just in case they didn't return; and ensuring that Abby was fit enough to help them look for Ash; they set out.

Connor and Pete changed into their wolf forms and it wasn't before long that Pete picked up Ash's familiar scent. Following his nose, Pete led the team into the dense forest.

Morgana pointed to some fur caught in some brambles, picking it off she looked into Pete's eyes. They both knew that Ash had come this way, and now they had proof.

Abby closed her eyes, and she heard the chatter in the forest, hundreds of animals going about their work. She heard an owl and looked across to where it sat in a branch watching them.

Slowly walking up to it, she crooned softly. Suddenly the bird took off and landed on her out stretched hand.

_"I saw him, a wolf when he came by here, silvery grey fur, just like your friend, and he seemed to be going towards the tall tower."_ The owl cooed to her.

"Can you show me?" She encouraged.

_"Follow me..."_ The owl flew off.

"Follow the owl, he's seen Ash." Abby called to Connor, Pete and Morgana.

Quickly the team of four set off following the owl. Abby pointed to the brambles.

"Look - Fur! He's been this way!"

They set off once more convinced that they were on the right track, when Pete stopped.

_"I can smell something..."_ Morgana heard him as he sniffed the air and then very slowly he walked up to a tree, and sniffed again.

_"It's Ash's scent; he's somewhere close by I know it!" _Morgana processed this information, and told Abby and Connor.

Abby spoke once more to the owl which sat on her hand.  
"It says it didn't see which way Ash went after this." Turning to the owl she thanked it for its help and sent it on its way.

Closing her eyes, she listened to the wildlife around her.

Focusing upon a squirrel gathering nuts, she asked if it had seen a wolf or a man, she pointed to Connor, who had transformed, telling the creature that the man looked like Connor.

The squirrel chattered back a reply, and pointed to a tall tower.

"He went inside?" The squirrel chattered positively.

Not being able to find an entrance to the tall spire, Morgana cast a spell turning them all into eagles, and flying off they landed inside the tower.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Inside the tower they came on an old woman, she looked as if time had not been kind to her. She had lots of wrinkles, white hair, tied messily into braids, and if she had not looked so hideous, Connor would have described her as somebody's grandmother.  
Instead he likened her to a mean old witch.

Abby listened to the squirrel that had scampered up the tower to be with them.  
"She's not as she appears to you, the witch has enchanted her."

The old woman shrank back from them, staring warily at Connor.

"Who are you?" She croaked.

"I came looking for my son... Has he been here?" Pete questioned.

"Dad ...! Look...!" Connor called. He pointed to a statue, a replica of himself - Ash!

Pete turned back to the old woman.

"Why do you have a statue of my son? Has he been here? Where is he now?" Pete raised his voice at the woman. He reached out to her.

"No...! Don't touch her!" Abby screamed. She pointed to the squirrel that had followed them, it was holding onto the hem of her dress, and she had watched as it had turned to stone.

"I have been enchanted... By the witch Christina, there is a way to break the spell... You have to find a unicorn... Tears of the unicorn will break the enchantment." She moved back from them not wanting them to be bewitched too. Frightened, she looked up. "Will you help me? Help me to help your son? You need to bring me tears of a unicorn..."

Connor turned to his father. "Unicorns are mythical creatures; you'll never be able to find one." He stated.

"I'm afraid you to tell you differently, I know where to find one, but we have to go back to the Good Fairy Jessica." Morgana informed them.

Reluctantly she took hold of her necklace, and pulled a bead from it, and threw it to the ground. A bird squawked and flew away when there was the sound of breaking glass and a green fog with glittering green shards appeared.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

It took a few more days, but slowly Jess's wing began to heal. The doctor himself would now give her the necessary medication, as the last fiasco had left her quite shaken. Jessica still had not remembered her ordeal, and could not remember why Steven or Steven's son was so important.

Claudia; kept an eye on her. Ever since the incident with the poisoned drink, she felt responsible for her well being. Being a fairy meant that Jess could help them in all sorts of ways.

Claudia smiled, it seemed as if Stephen liked the young fairy, and was falling for her; every time she looked over, he was at her side, fussing over her. Ensuring she had something to eat and drink, plumping up her pillows, giving her medicine to get better, cutting up apples with an unusually large knife to feed her.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Nick and Claudia retired to their drawing room after lunch and they were entertaining their young guest, Fairy Jessica. She had recovered suitably and she could be seen brightening the halls of the mansion as she walked through them.

Nick planned to join the Fairy and his wife before going to the library to do some research, and he sat for a moment listening to their chatter. There was a knock on the door and their chauffeur, Roger Temple, came in.

"Lord Cuttershall," He bowed low. "I have just received news about a young man being kidnapped from the parking lot of a large supermarket. He was taken by a huge winged creature; the animal took the man through a portal very similar to an Anomaly. This sounds very much like Christina's work, Sir."

"It does indeed sound like something Christina would do, but why? Who is the man who was kidnapped?" Cutter surmised.

"The young man's name is Captain H J Becker."

Cutter's mouth fell open, he exchanged glances with Claudia. They had both heard of the man, worked with him in their alternate realities, he had been the soldier who had followed Pete, Connor and Ashley to one of their meetings with him. He was a very capable soldier and Cutter instinctively knew he had to do something.

He racked his brains – He wished he could go and rescue Becker, but he couldn't. He was needed here whilst Pete, Connor and Ashley tried to complete their mission.

"Why don't I go to rescue this young man? Getting into Christina's castle will not be a problem for me, and she will not know that Captain Becker has left until it is too late." Jess smiled, eager to be doing something to help.

Jess didn't need much help to set off to find the soldier called Captain Becker – She tried to find out why the soldier was so elusive about his first name, and even Cutter was very tight lipped, saying he had never really asked.

Once the physician had declared her fit and well, she set off to find the young man. She started in his flat, arriving at his front door she knocked politely, as a couple walked past her and down the stairs. She did not want to be seen breaking into his apartment!

Turning to see if anyone else was around, she blew into the lock gently, opening it an instant. Creeping inside she looked around the living quarters. She frowned. The place barely looked lived in. It seemed that the soldier was very neat and tidy, and not one item was out of place. However there weren't many things in the small flat to make it look homely at all and Jess wondered what he did in his spare time. Venturing into a side room, she discovered a large array of gym equipment. It seemed as if this soldier was very keen on keeping fit and most of his spare time would have been spent in this room.

However, this wasn't the room in which Jess was interested in. Gazing around her she found the room of interest to her. The bathroom, here she was guaranteed to find something which could help her find the young man.

Opening a bathroom cabinet, she reached for a hairbrush. She frowned again, this soldier was exceptionally clean, and not a single hair could be found on his hairbrush! Sighing she racked her brains, and opened another cupboard.

Smiling she reached for his razor, and then grinned, she found a tiny hair and a small speck of blood on the implement. This could help her locate the man in question, all she had to do now was lift the DNA and trace him.

Taking the razor to her home she dipped the razor into a vial of pale blue liquid, then whispering an incantation she sought out the soldier's location.

Jess grinned as she realised that Christina had him in her dungeons, she had succeeded in not only finding the Captain, but the time period in which he was trapped too. Putting on a white robe, and ensuring that her wings were in full working order, she tapped her wand in the air there was a flash of brilliant white light and Jess calmly walked through a pale pink anomaly.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

**I hope I can be forgiven for hurting Connor in such a way but hopefully you can see the reason behind it.**


	16. Chapter 16

_**The Curse**_

_Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine._

_**Thanks go to CeffylGwyn, Musicgirl97, Auntineenah, Rubytronix, Mijo54, Moura1371, Prawn Crackers, Cutedawgz42, **__**YouHaveLovelyHair and to my AN reviewer for their Awesome reviews - love to all of you.**_

_Has anybody else spotted the ravens hovering around throughout the story? Damn Ravens..._

* * *

**_Chapter 16_**

Becker had tried to remember which way the dragon had taken him, but when the winged creature took him through a black anomaly he knew there was no hope of being rescued. He was shrouded in darkness for a moment, then when a dim glimmer of light filtered through he could see that wherever he was, it was still night-time and the sun had not risen yet. The landscape looked unfamiliar, with miles and miles of what looked like farmland and forest. It was when he was dropped to the inside the grounds of a huge fortress that he lost consciousness.

A few hours later, when he came round, he felt extremely vulnerable. His shirt, trousers, boots and socks had been removed, and Becker felt exposed and naked and he was grateful for the tight jersey boxers which still adorned his body. He had been strapped to what looked like a medieval torture rack, chains hung from the beams above to which he was shackled. Below his legs were spread shoulder width apart and his ankles were bound too. However, he could not help feeling like a sacrificial lamb, waiting for the moment when it would be beheaded. Becker wondered if this was going to be his fate, if indeed he was held here to be killed.

He looked around him, he appeared to be in some sort of medieval dungeon, and he could not see anything he could use as a weapon, nothing with which he could use to defend himself. The only window to the enclosed, dark and dingy room was high up and Becker could not see any light filtering through it. He realised that it was still night and suddenly he wished that his friends and colleagues were nearby. At least they would be able to help him. He looked across to the other side of the stone room, where there was a heavy oak door.

"Help...!" He shouted, hoping that someone could hear him.

The door creaked opened and a hooded figure slowly entered the room. Although the black hood covered the person's face, Becker made out that whoever wore the floor length gown was a woman, and he wished he could see her properly in the shadows. Slowly she approached him.

"Captain Becker, you're awake," she spoke softly, her clipped accent sending shivers down his spine as he recognised her dulcet tones. He struggled against his bonds wanting to be set free, wanting to escape the woman in front of him.

"Christine Johnson...!" He spat through clenched teeth, and thrashed against his bindings once more.

"It's no use... those are magical bonds, and can only be released by my command." Her sickly sweet voice began to irritate the Captain, and he wondered as to why he was being held in this manner.

Taking down the hood of her gown, she smiled, her bright red lipstick making her lips look fuller than usual. The outfit she wore underneath did nothing to hide her figure. Instead the all-in-one black cat suit seemed to shimmer as she walked. It looked a size too small and it clung to her body like a second skin, and Becker could clearly see the outline of her breasts, her toned stomach and the rounded globes of her bottom. The heels of her black leather boots clicked on the stone floor as she walked haughtily towards him.

"I want some information... Some details... And you're going to give them to me, willingly!" She smirked. "I want to know where the Artefact is..." She waited for an answer. But when none came she began to get cross. "TELL ME WHERE IT IS!" Her eyes widened angrily as she shouted.

"NEVER...! I will NEVER tell you where it is, and you'll never get your hands on it!" He growled.

"FINE...! Then you will suffer the consequences!" Christina sneered and held her hand in the air; magically a whip appeared in her hand.

Becker had forgotten that she was a witch and that she could make things appear out of thin air. He gritted his teeth as the hard rope was brought down across his body. His nerves screamed, as the pain of being beaten registered in his brain. Closing his eyes and gritting his teeth, he blanked out the torture of the repeated lashes brought down on his body. Angry red welts began appearing across his muscled torso; blood began to trickle from some of them. The whip caught his cheek and immediately blood began seeping from the wound, and still Christina did not stop. She moved around him and he felt the rope cut into his back and sides.

Suddenly from the window above him, a strange white mist began floating down. It gathered in a particular spot near the door, and soon the mist began to thicken. Slowly an image began to form and a beautiful girl materialised in the room with them.

Christina began to fume, "Guards!" she shouted, and immediately several guards rushed inside.

No sooner were they inside the door then the beautiful woman dressed in a glorious white tunic, with a golden rope hanging from her middle, waved a beautifully manicured hand through the air. A glittering dust emanated from her fingertips and the guards collapsed to the floor.

She tried using the dust on Christina, but the cunning witch cast a shield of fire in front of her, preventing the dust from reaching her. She tried another tactic and, waving her hands in the air once more, she pushed water into Christina's direction. This time the water was much more powerful and not only did it douse the flames completely, but it drenched Christina completely.

Christina stood in the dungeon dripping with water, and whilst she was distracted, the beautiful maiden used the same sparkling dust on Christina, causing her to pass out. The witch collapsed to the floor surrounded by her own guards.

Walking towards the Captain she introduced herself as the Good Fairy Jessica.

"You'll never be able to get me out of here, these bonds are magical." Becker gasped for breath pulling at the shackles.

"Christina's magic is no match for me," she told him softly as she walked towards him, and she blew gently onto the shackles which bound him; they clicked open, and Becker was set free. Immediately he collapsed to his knees, his back, sides and middle were incredibly sore after being given umpteen lashes before being rescued.

"Here... Let me help you..." Jess helped him to his feet, slowly and very gently she ran her fingers around him and over his injuries.

Her hands were incredibly soft and cool, her fingers felt like a medicated balm being spread across his sore and aching chest. Slowly the pain dulled, his injuries began to fade; and the welts disappeared leaving silvery white scars. He looked into the fairy's eyes. They were the most beautiful, sparkling, cerulean blue eyes he had ever seen, her auburn hair complimented her facial features and her smile almost melted his bones.

She smiled as she gazed into his eyes and suddenly she became quite bold. Leaning forward she kissed him gently on the lips. When she had taken on the task of saving Captain Becker, she had not known how handsome he was, and she pressed her petite body into his.

"Come, we must go before they wake." Taking his calloused hand in hers, she led him out of his prison.

"Clothes...? What about my clothes?" He panicked.

"Never mind..." She smiled and snapped her fingers again and a soft red tunic and black breeches adorned his semi naked body, soft leather boots adorned his feet.

Jess knew that Becker was not magical, and that they would have to find another route out of the old and dusty castle. Holding Becker's hand she ran alongside him, up and down several corridors trying to get out.

Christina's guards had now been alerted to the prisoner's breakout, and Becker and Jess found themselves hiding from the soldiers running through the corridors. On one such an instance they found themselves inside a room, waiting for the guards to go past. Jess turned and gasped, three golden cauldrons sat in the middle of the room.

Knowing that the cauldrons would be needed later, Jess tapped Becker on the shoulder.

"You'll have to put them in your pocket..." She pointed and told him.

Becker raised his eyebrows and questioned her.

"Put these into my pockets? Are you mad – Have you seen the size of these things?" He walked up to one of them, and tried picking it up. The heavy pot reached up to his waist and was so wide that Becker couldn't even get his arms around the middle. He huffed and put his hands on his hips in despair.

Jess chuckled and simply waved her hand, her fingers wiggling, sending glittering fairy dust over them...

Magically, all three cauldrons started to shrink. They shrank, and shrank, and shrank.

"You are truly ... Brilliant!" Becker smirked at her ingenuity, and bent down to pick one up. It was now the size of a ping-pong ball, and fitted nicely in the palm of his hand. Grinning he picked up all three golden cauldrons and popped them in his pocket.

"Yes, I know I am!" Jess smiled widely, the action lighting up her whole face.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Cutter was surprised to see one of Morgana's green anomalies open in front of the manor. A green anomaly did not bode well, he was expecting to see a pale blue one signalling that they had found Ash's Key person. Then as he saw Morgana, Pete, Connor and Abby come through without the young man in question, and he knew something was wrong. Disappointment gathered in his stomach. Rising from the chair he sat in, he walked over to the quartet.

"What happened? Where's Ash?" He questioned.

Pete filled him in on their misfortune. Of how Ash had been turned into stone and that they would have to procure Unicorn tears to break the spell he was held under.

After a brief conversation with them he sent them back on their way, they had to find the unicorn and only the Fairy Princess Jessica, could show them where to find one. Currently Jess was rescuing Captain Becker and because Cutter didn't expect them back soon, he sent Pete, Connor, Morgana and Abby to find them.

Giving Pete details as to their location he sent them on their way, back through the anomaly they had just come from. He told them to look for Christina's castle, where they would find the good fairy. For a brief moment, Cutter walked through the anomaly with the group. Looking around, he assessed their location and told them how they could find Christina's castle – roughly eighty miles north of their current location. It would take a few days to get there on foot, and so they would have to set off immediately. Dejected the foursome began their long journey to find the good fairy Jessica.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Looking around them it became clear that they would have to trek across the woods towards the valley in which Christina's castle lay. It took a whole day of walking through the forest until they came up to a wide ravine. Pete looked along the ledge looking for a good place to cross.

"Dad..?"

"Yes Conn..."

"I hate to say this... But Morgana's a dragon."

Pete wasn't looking in the same place as Connor. He was busy looking around for a bridge.

"That's not a nice thing to say about Morgana!" Pete admonished.

"No Dad...! Look...! She's a dragon!" Connor pointed to a figure in the distance.

Pete looked up and saw a large, beautiful, purple dragon that fluttered her eyelashes at him. She told them to climb onto her back, once Abby, Connor and Pete were seated; she spread her strong wings and flew them across. Morgana flew for as far as she was able, then she alighted for a rest and transformed back into her body. She was very tired and rested while Pete scouted the area for food.

Pete managed to catch three ravens, and from the way blood dripped down his chin, Morgana knew just how he had caught them. She quickly prepared the bird, the magic she used greatly speeded up the process of gutting it, removing feathers and soon it was cooking on a spit over an open fire.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

The quartet walked on, through the thick forests and farmland, eager to find the entrance to Morgana's castle. They knew she had kidnapped Becker, and that Jessica had gone on a rescue mission. They hoped that she had succeeded, and that they could meet up soon, for only she could lead them to a unicorn. Without the unicorn tears, Ashley would remain a stone statue and Mohini would remain in her tall tower, trapped, waiting for a knight in shining armour that would never come, almost like a fairy tale that had gone wrong.

Soon they could see the turrets to Morgana's castle in the distance, and decided to find a place to sleep.

"Look... Is that a small village?" Abby pointed to a small group of huts in the distance, smoke rose from makeshift chimneys, and the smell of something cooking wafted towards them.

"Well whatever they're cooking, it's not chicken curry, but it's worth asking for a bed for the night, would make a wonderful change from sleeping on the ground." Connor commented.

"Let's go and ask then." Pete answered.

As they approached the village, Abby and Morgana began to feel uneasy, something was wrong, and they couldn't put their finger on it.

Children ran off to hide behind their mother's skirts; the women stopped their chores to stare at the strangers who entered their village.

Morgana tried to smile, but her worries took hold and a knot formed in her gut.

Abby instinctively reached for Connors's hand, and was pleased when he took it in his own.  
Looking towards him, she noted the worried look on his face, and heard his placating thoughts.

Suddenly they heard the terrifying call of a creature in the air, a loud roar that rumbled through the valley, and looking up they saw a massive black dragon flying above them.

Automatically they reached for the swords that had been given by Nick and Claudia Cuttershall. They battled as the dragon swooped down upon them.

The dragon roared at them, it's fiery breath destroying their swords, disintegrating them.  
It flew off into the air again, circled and swooped again this time grabbing its intended targets, with sharp talons.

"NO!" Abby screamed in silent horror, her voice caught in her throat refusing to come out, and she fell to her knees.

Morgana had frozen to the spot when Pete had been taken, but she recovered quickly and she cast as many spells as she could think of, but to no avail, Pete and Connor were gone... kidnapped by the winged monster.

Morgana ran over to Abby, tears ran down her own face as she tried to console the blonde. She looked around her and that's when she noticed the weirdness of her surroundings, the women of the village began surrounding them, looking around she noticed little boys, but no adolescents, no young men, the only man she saw in her surroundings was an old man with a bent back, so old that he struggled as he hobbled with his stick, towards them.

"Come, come, you must come with us," he motioned to a young woman at his side to help Morgana and Abby.

He led them back to his hut, a small building made of sticks and mud with a straw roof. Leading them inside, he limped to a table and poured some water into a bowl. Giving it to Abby he told her to drink.

Abby glanced at the muddy and unclean water, immediately the thought that crossed her mind was she could not possibly drink this water in fear of falling ill. She glanced at Morgana, and the look of uncertainly must have come across, because Morgana muttered an incantation under her breath, and suddenly the water was transformed into cool, clean, and clear water.

Gratefully Abby picked up the bowl and drank, grateful to Morgana for making it drinkable, and grateful to the old man for being so hospitable.

Morgana and Abby both sat at the table and questioned their host as to why the village did not have any men in their midst.

"The dragon who took your companions, it comes, and takes away our men, any young boys." The old man's speech was broad and heavily accented. "My son was taken three years ago. My grandson having reached the older age was taken more recently." He pointed to a woman who lay on a bed apparently in pain. "She pines for her son. Our men are never seen again, they're probably eaten by the monster. Strangely it avoids the women and girls. We do not know why, but it always comes from the old castle on the hill. The men are always taken there. We sent out search parties looking for them, but we have never seen our men folk again." He told them solemnly.

Abby and Morgana glanced at each other when the old man told them that the dragon came from the castle on the hill - Christina's castle - their destination for this part of their journey.

With renewed gusto the women told the old man of their intention; they were going to go to the castle and rescue Connor and Pete, they would find a way to get to their men and set them free.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

In the morning, after resting properly and eating a meagre yet healthy breakfast of apples and blackberries, Morgana and Abby set off towards Christina's Castle. They walked as far from the village as they could, then looking around them to ensure they had not been followed, Morgana cast a spell on herself and Abby. The results of the spell began to be seen as they transformed into eagles, as a pair of birds, they could fly right up to the castle without being noticed.

Circling the castle they landed on various balconies, peering inside, to see if they could see Connor and Pete.

Failing to see their beloved partners they landed just outside the gates of the huge castle, and turned human once more.

"I can't see them anywhere, I can't hear Pete either." Morgana muttered.

"Let me try..." Abby closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings, just as Morgana had taught her.

Very soon she heard the rambling of a small mouse, a cat, even a small rabbit as it hopped past. Then Abby heard the strange muttering from a robin nearby. She turned towards it and questioned it as to why it behaved in this manner.

Holding out her hand for the robin to land on she questioned the bird. The bird squeaked and screeched; and flapped its wings as if animatedly chatting to Abby. The young zoologist listened intently, understanding everything the bird was saying. Eventually the bird flew off and settled on a ledge not too far away. It watched them intently and waited.

"Come on, we have to follow it." Abby beckoned.

Quickly Abby and Morgana changed into robins themselves and followed their unusual companion. They flew around the castle and into a cave near the bottom of the towering building. They flew through the cave to the back and found themselves flying through a myriad of catacombs leading to various parts of the castle above.

The robin led Abby and Morgana to the dungeons, where masses of ravens were kept in a huge cage. Arriving inside the depths of a huge cavern, the women transformed back into their bodies. Looking around them they noticed hundreds of ravens, they had been caged, and the women really did not know why they were kept like this.

Abby clamped her hands over her ears, the voices which she heard in her head were overwhelming, they told her of inconceivable things, and she had to whisper the incantation to stop the raucous noise filtering through to her head.

She paused for a moment, digesting the information she had overheard from the birds as they communicated with her, then she turned towards Morgana and told her of what she had heard.

"These ravens, they're the men and young boys from the village we just left. Christina has turned them into birds and they are forced to do her bidding."

"Why does Christina need so many? Why has she imprisoned so many?" Morgana questioned.

"I don't know..." Abby frowned. Suddenly her mouth fell open and she gasped as the truth dawned on her. "She's been using them to keep tabs on us!"

"What?"

"Don't you remember...? At every step of our journey there have been ravens nearby! They've been watching and reporting our every move! They've been sent from here, to watch us, and no doubt they have to come back and report to Christina!"

"You mean the ravens we ate for lunch came from here?" Morgana screwed up her face in disgust, and thought about the various times she had seen the black feathered birds hovering close to them. Suddenly they heard footsteps. "Quick...! Hide...!"

Quickly Morgana and Abby hid behind the nearest stone wall, and they waited for the strangers who appeared to be running.

.

-o-o-o-

.

* * *

Having collected the golden cauldrons, Becker and Jess began to run through the corridors once more, arriving at a steep set of stone steps. Jess inhaled sharply and panicked as she heard footsteps behind them.

"Down...! Head down!" Becker shouted. He had acquired a bow and arrow earlier and now he fired off three arrows, each one meeting with its intended targets, Christina's guards.

With their enemies dealt with, they quickly ran down the steps into a huge underground cavern. Looking around them they saw and heard millions of ravens locked inside cages, lining the walls of the huge room.

Suddenly Becker was taken by surprise, a hand clamped over his mouth muffling his cries. Looking over to Jessica he noticed that she too had been held in the same manner.

"Hush, say one word and I'll have to hurt you! And you know that I can and will harm you!" Becker relaxed as he recognised the familiar tones.

He turned slowly and whispered. "Abby! What are you doing here?"

"We came to find you! Fairy Jessica - You're the only one who can help us now." Abby told the young fairy.

"Christina has Ashley's partner, she has cast some sort of spell upon them, and he's been turned to stone. In order to break it, we need unicorn tears; we were told you were the only person who knows where we can find one." Morgana explained.

"Well, let's go..." Becker interjected.

"No, first we have to find Pete and Connor, they were taken by a huge black dragon, and we have to set all these ravens free."

"No - We can't set them free just like that," Jessica interrupted. "Christina uses their blood in her potions. With their blood she can control anything and everything that they do, and she turns them into ravens, dragons, and wolves to do her bidding. They have to do as she says otherwise she uses the blood samples to hurt them and their loved ones. They can't even escape, if they do she pours their blood into the fire and they die very painful death." Jessica finished.

"So we've got to find the blood samples she has kept in order to set them free?" Becker asked hesitantly

"Yes, that's right. We need to dispose of the vials properly; we can't let Christina get her hands on them." Jess concluded. "We can't destroy the blood samples, because if you do, each person will die. We just have to find the room where all the vials are kept, I think I saw it as we ran past, I can do it, and I've got an idea." Jessica responded enthusiastically.

"Well, we need to find Pete and Connor, let's split up and do what we need to do!" Abby suggested and everyone agreed.

Before they ran off, Morgana tapped Jess on the shoulder transforming her into a cat, she turned into one herself and they began to run through the castle, this way the guards would only see a couple of stray cats wandering the castle and would not be suspicious.

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–o-o-o-

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* * *

They scampered up the stairs and through various rooms; they scurried past the guards, who didn't even spare a second glance at the two cats, one tabby, and one white, which ran through the castle. Jess and Morgana ran back upstairs and Jess seemed to know exactly where they were going, she meowed to Morgana, a signal for her to follow and soon they arrived in front of a heavy oak door. Jess pawed at it and tried unsuccessfully to open it.

She sat back and huffed, for a moment she doubted that she could open such a heavy door in her current form. Morgana tried in vain and she too gave up. It was then that Jessica began to purr. She wasn't sure if she could do it but she tried anyway. There was no way she would be able to blow the door open, like she had done to Becker's front door, so she licked it instead. The magic worked and the door swung open just wide enough for them to squeeze through.

In the centre of the room stood a huge black cauldron, and the fluid which simmered inside was a sickly green colour. The surrounding walls were jammed full of millions of test tubes, each tube full of blood. They returned to their normal bodies and Morgana gasped, then she breathed in deeply gathering as much courage as she could, for whatever Christina did in this room, it could not be good.

Jess waved her arms around the whole room, first left then right. All the vials rose in to the air, shrinking before their very eyes, and began gathering in the centre of the room.

"I need a bag... quickly." And she began looking around the room.

Morgana snapped her fingers and a large attaché case floated in the air before them.

Jess smiled, this was teamwork at its best! She waved the shrunken tubes into the bag and clasped it shut. She took the bag and hid it in her robes, they would have to deal with it later.

Running out they ran back down the stairs and began looking for Pete and Connor. Soon they reached the bottom and began running towards the huge green dragon, where Becker had told them they would be.

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-o-o-o-

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_**I know a few of you had noticed the pesky birds - Wolf shaped cookies to those who noticed, and cookies for those of you who review.**_

_**Please remember, reviews are food for my reluctant muse**_.


	17. Chapter 17

_**The Curse**_

_Thanks go to Aithion, and to YHLH for the Beta reading I have made changes since they read this so any other errors are all mine._

_**Thanks go to CeffylGwyn, Musicgirl97, Auntineenah, Rubytronix, Mijo54, Moura1371, Prawn Crackers, Cutedawgz42, **__**YouHaveLovelyHair and to my AN reviewer for their Awesome reviews - love to all of you.**_

_**Special thanks go to all of you who have pestered me for an update, especially to Captain Becker and the Doctor.**_

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_**Chapter 17**_

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Down in the dungeons, Abby and Becker concentrated on setting the birds free, it was not an easy task, and even though Abby could unlock all the doors with a snap of her fingers, the birds inside made no effort to try and fly away.

She cast another spell, one that would transform the birds back into humans once they touched a loved one. Still the birds stayed within their enclosures. Becker ran around throwing open all the cages to no avail.  
Turning on her animal hearing for a moment, she questioned a raven as to why they weren't flying up and away.

_"The dragon, it has been instructed to eat us if we try to escape." _The little voice squawked.

Turning around they saw the huge green dragon from a distance. It seemed to be snuffling around looking for something.

Abby, once more, blocked out her magical ability of being able to hear animals because the raucous sounds of hearing so many voices was a huge din and was driving her insane.

"Abby, stop... I think I can hear something..." Becker cupped his ear trying to filter the sounds which he could hear. Becker turned to his left, holding the bow and arrow aloft, he ventured forward. "I wish I had a light..." he muttered.

Abby snapped her fingers, and a burning torch appeared, hovering in the air in front of him.

"That better?"

"Yes ... Thank you Abby." Becker's mouth fell open; he had no idea that Abby was magical and could do these things, but more recently weird unexplainable things had been happening, and this was just one of them. He smirked and shook his head, he would just have to get used to this. There were more important things to be done, such as finding Connor and his father Pete, finding a unicorn and its tears to cure Ashley.

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

He ventured forward and soon they came to an alcove in the stone wall. Gingerly he stepped inside and he discovered that he was small room carved into the cave walls. There he found Connor and Pete; they were handcuffed, wearing nothing but their trousers, to a stone wall. They were unconscious, but alive. A bruise on Pete's cheek indicating a blow to the face, and a cut on Connor's, showed that they had been beaten, angry red welts upon their skin where someone had brought a whip down upon their bodies. Snakes hissed at Becker and Abby and once more Abby opened her mind to their voices.

_"Abby ...! Quickly...!"_ Connor shouted without moving his lips. _"This snake is going to crawl up me leg!"_

Abby carefully approached the snake and bending down she reached down to grab hold of the snake by the back of the head.

Becker was not scared of many animals, but like Indiana Jones, he hated snakes. He stepped backwards as Abby flung it over his shoulder and away from Connor.

"Go...! Go back to your loved ones, touch them and you'll turn back to normal." Abby told the snakes around them and slowly they began to slither away.

Quickly they released the chains which held Pete and Connor in their position by the wall. Abby knew that Connor and Pete's had been tortured. Their blood soaked trousers showed that they had lost a lot of blood, and she wished she knew the spell which would help them recover.

Slowly she and Becker helped them to the edge of the alcove where they were met by Jess and Morgana. Very quickly Jess and Morgana worked their magic and the men's injuries disappeared leaving them fit and well, and the group of six began to run towards the mouth of the cave.

Suddenly Abby stopped.

"What's the matter Abby?" Connor questioned.

"I heard something...!" Turning on her animal intuition, she listened carefully and this time she heard it clearly.

_"Help Me...!"_ The voice sounded strange, almost as if the person was in pain.

"Where are you? Who are you?" She shouted to no-one visible.

_"Here... I've been enchanted ... You see me as a green dragon..." _The person spoke slowly, his throat sore and dry.

Abby gasped and ran towards the enormous creature.

"Abby!" Connor shouted. He did not have the same powers as Abby, and seeing her run towards the gigantic creature made his heart miss a beat. _"Stop Abby!"_ He called telepathically.

_"It's OK. I'm going to save the dragon...!"_ She telepathically shouted in reply.

"That looks sore; Let me take a look at that for you ... I won't hurt you. Put your head down here, and I'll see what I can do to help." She murmured.

Five pairs of eyes widened in horror as they saw the creature Abby was talking to. It was the size of a T-Rex, and at the moment it was listening to Abby and carefully laid its large head down on the ledge she stood upon.

She heard them coming and signalled with her finger on her lips, to be as quiet as possible.

Carefully she climbed onto the dragon, running up the creature's arm she reached its neck where a spear protruded from its neck.

Very carefully she tried to pull, she tugged as hard as she could and then not having enough strength of her own she called Connor and Pete to join her.

With their help, Abby managed to pull the spike out of the dragon's neck. She reached for the bottle of healing potion Morgana held out to her, so that she could help the poor creature. Using it on the dragon, Abby was pleased to see the wound knit together and close.

_"Thank you ..."_ The dragon sighed.

"You're welcome." Abby smiled, having heard the dragon's thoughts, and she looked over to the others.

Becker and Jess stared open mouthed at her talking to this dragon, Morgana, Connor and Pete, however, understood what was going on. They knew of Abby's talent of being able to hear the animals.

Abby heard the creature groan again, and she questioned if she could help in any other way. The dragon raised a huge manacled claw, blood seeped from the edges where the shackles had cut into its flesh, where the chains rubbed and were clearly too tight.

"Oh, you poor thing," she crooned softly in sympathy once more.

She turned to Morgana, "How do we get that off?"

"With this …" Morgana raised a hand in the air as if she expected someone behind her to hand her some tools. Magically a pair of bolt cutters appeared in her hand, and she handed them to Abby so that she could help the poor creature.

Carefully Abby cut off the shackle which bound the poor dragon and she was able to take it off.

No sooner were the manacles off the creature then something strange began to happen …

The dragon began to glow, and shrink as he put both claws on the ledge to stop himself from falling down the huge ravine below. The creature shrank to the size of a horse, lying prone on the small ledge, and then its body was enveloped in a puff of black smoke.

Everyone waited for the thick dark, smog to clear, and was surprised when it did, for lying on the ground was not a dragon, but a person. A dirty and long, shaggy, blonde haired man who lay on his face. Becker and Pete ran over to turn the man over so that could examine him properly, whilst the others crowded around them.

Becker, Abby and Connor gasped.

Tom Ryan!

"Ryan! What happened to you?" Connor enquired.

All that Tom could do was groan in reply, he had had been enchanted and the pain still radiated through his entire body. He opened his eyes for a moment and blinked, before dropping his head to the ground, exhaustion took over and the older man fell unconscious. Being a fire breathing dragon could do that to a person!

Carefully Becker picked the man up and using a fireman's lift, slung him over his shoulder; they could not leave him here for Christina.

"Ready...?" He waited for everyone to nod. "Let's go...!"

Quickly the party ran from the castle. It was only a matter of time before they were found, and the sooner they left, the quicker they could find a cure for Ashley and his partner.

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

Morgana was running out of anomaly opening beads, and so Fairy Jess was the one to open the pale pink anomaly taking them to Cuttershall mansion. Sighing they returned, bringing along with them the battered, bruised and tormented form of Tom Ryan. Nick Cuttershall fell to his knees as his trusted manservant Tom Ryan was placed upon the ground.

Claudia rushed to the man's side, but apart from waiting for the man to come round, there was nothing they could do. Carefully they transported the unconscious man to his living quarters, and called the Doctor to assess his injuries.

Jess tried using her powers to revive the soldier, but Ryan had sustained many injuries, some of them internal and when the physician checked him over they were told that it would take time for him to recover.

A figure disappeared into the shadows of the huge mansion. Seeing Tom Ryan did not bode well, it was good he was unconscious; at least he would not be able to talk, but with the arrival of the manservant, something would have to be done. Christina would not be happy at his escape from the dungeons. Tom Ryan knew too much, and he would have to die.

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-o-o-o-

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* * *

The old man trudged slowly towards his crops, an old battered watering can in one hand, and a long walking stick in the other. Usually his daughter-in-law would be looking after the fields along with her son, but she had fallen ill lately, and the old man knew that he would have to carry on struggling until she was better.

In his heart he knew that she was pining for her eldest son who had been taken by the giant winged dragon, he doubted he would ever see his son or grandson ever again, he was old and he somehow knew his days were numbered.

"Shoo!" He shouted to the black ravens which pecked at his cabbages. But they only flew back to annoy him. He lashed out at them with his stick, poking at them, waving it around in the air.

"Shoo! Go away! Be gone!" He shouted. Suddenly the stick snapped, the old man lost his balance and he stumbled to the ground.

Still the ravens did not budge; instead they grew bolder and hopped right up to the now unconscious old man. One of the ravens hopped up to the old man and jumped lightly upon the old man's arm.

There was a brilliant flash of light, and momentarily smoke filled the air.

"Father...! Father! Wake up father!" A young man with brown mousey hair and green eyes shook the old man's shoulders.

He held out his hand to the younger raven which still hopped around nearby.

"Come, touch me, you'll be fine." He held out his hand as the fledgling hopped onto his fingers. Again there was a brief brilliant flash of light, and smoke filled the air once more. A handsome young teenager stood where the little bird had been.

"Father...! I'm back! Grandfather! Look at me! I'm back!" The teenager jumped for joy, pleased that he was no longer a hideous black feathered bird.

"Christopher...? Jason...? Is that you...?" The old man muttered, ever so slightly befuddled. He blinked, "Am I dead...? Have I gone to heaven...?"

"No father! We're back! We escaped the witch's castle and we've come home." He stroked the kind old man who had been so hospitable to Abby and Morgana, and cleaned off the mud from his father's face.

"Come father, let's go home."

The two young men helped the old man to his feet and supported him as they walked home.

A strange scene unfolded as they reached the village. Hundreds of ravens had descended upon the village; flashes of light followed by hazy smoke filled the air, followed by shrieks of laughter and tears as loved ones were reunited with their families. Merriment filled the valley as hundreds of families rejoiced.

Tonight the village would rejoice, tonight there would be a feast. Fathers and sons had returned, and so today would be a special day for ever more.

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-o-o-o-

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_**Thank you to everyone for reading, maybe you could leave a 'Scooby Snack' for my muse?**_


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